Quest for the Ignika
by DataIntegrationThoughtEntity
Summary: Could anything have prepared the Guardians for the battle that would determine the fate of the universe? BionicleWITCH crossover.
1. Prologue

**Author's Notes: **Okay, first things first, where did this idea come from? I dunno. Hehe… well, actually, there are already two Bionicle/WITCH crossovers in the Bionicle fandom (both of which haven't been updated for, like, **forever**, by the way) but none here. Does that suck or what? Anyhow, I debated about which fandom to post this in **a lot**, considering I do have quite a reputation over there, but I settled for here. Yay!

…But I probably shouldn't be posting so many stories at the same time, I mean… ugh.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own W.I.T.C.H., duh. And Bionicle belongs to Lego. I don't own much actually. Not even any OCs. Aww… Anyhow, just don't sue you guys, cuz I can't pay up, and it's mean to sue someone who can't afford a lawyer.

Metru Nui. A world rediscovered where the Matoran, average inhabitants of the Bionicle world, live happily. It was like a paradise, from the forges of Ta-Metru, to the school of Ga-Matru, the test track at Le-Metru, the quarry of Po-Metru, the Archives of Onu-Metru, all the way to the crystal-like Knowledge Towers of Ko-Metru.

But it wasn't perfect. Mata Nui, the Great Spirit, had fallen into a deep sleep caused by his evil brother, Makuta. But it was more that a simple slumber. If Mata Nui wasn't awakened soon, he would die. The only thing that could save him was the Kanohi Mask of Life, called the Ignika, which was on the island of Voya Nui. The Ignika was a powerful artifact, created by the Great Beings themselves. It had the power to create life, but it also had the power to take it away…

Turaga Dume, the elder of Metru Nui, sent the Toa Nuva, protectors of Metru Nui, to Voya Nui in order to retrieve that Ignika and save Mata Nui. But it wasn't so simple. Not only would they have to find the Ignika, they would also have to defeat the powerful guardians of the Mask of Life.

And if **that **wasn't complicated enough, six former Dark Hunters, calling themselves the Piraka, had already arrived on Voya Nui with the same goal as the Toa Nuva. But not for the same reasons. They wanted ultimate power and control over the world. They had already 'brainwashed' the Matoran of Voya Nui with a substance called antidermis, and forced them to work as slaves. Only six Matoran remain. Balta, Dalu, Piruk, Velika, Kazi, and Garan. Together they form the Voya Nui Resistance Team, in a desperate struggle to free their comrades from the Piraka.

Upon arriving on Voya Nui, the Toa Nuva fought the Piraka. But they were utterly defeated, and now they're being held captive.

However, all is not lost for Mata Nui. Back on Metru Nui, six brave Matoran depart on a quest to Voya Nui. They are Jaller, a Ta-Matoran, Hahli, a Ga-Matoran, Matoro, a Ko-Matoran, Kongu, a Le-Matoran, Hewkii, a Po-Matoran, and Nuparu, an Onu-Matoran. On their way, a powerful bolt of lightning originating from the Red Star struck their boat.

They were energized and emerged from the lightning, not as the Matoran they once were, but as powerful new **Toa**. With organic masks that seemed almost alive and new Toa armor, they became the Toa Inika. Armed with weapons created by the mechanist of the Voya Nui Resistance Team, Velika, they were more than a match for the Piraka. Or were they? If the Piraka had so easily beaten their predecessors, the experienced Toa Nuva, what chance did the inexperienced Toa Inika have?

&&&

Back on Earth, a separate world, five teenage girls walked from school, chattering away at each other. But they weren't average girls, and anyone who would have happened to overhear their conversation would have thought they were crazy.

For they weren't talking about boys, homework, teachers, or tests, but about **magic**. And they were indeed magical. They had been charged with the task of being the current generation of Guardians of Kandrakar.

Kandrakar, literally floating in the center of infinity, and lying on a substance lighter that air, where the all-seeing Oracle and the Members of the Congregation dwelled.

Each of the girls had control over a certain element. For example, Irma had Water on her side.

Taranee was normally the shy and quiet one, that is, until she discovered the magic of Fire.

Practical Cornelia naturally got the element of Earth, summoning all sorts of plant life to her aid when in trouble.

Creative and somewhat hyper Hay Lin had the carefree Air at her disposal.

And there was Will, the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar, a mystical artifact which contained the girls' elemental power. She also had power over Energy, being able to talk to electrical appliances and the like.

And as pointed out by Hay Lin, their initials spelled W.I.T.C.H., which was now their team name. They had been through a lot, from freeing Metamoor, another world, from an evil tyrant named Phobos, defeating a crazed revenge-obsessed former Guardian named Nerissa, keeping their superhero identities secret, to defeating Phobos a second time.

Sure, they were exhausted from the whole thing, and were grateful for the fact that nothing had happened for the past few months, but on the other hand, all these trails did nothing more that bring them together, and they felt just about ready for anything.

But could even they be ready for a battle that could decided the fate of the entire universe?

**Author's Notes: **Okay, so all I did here was basically explain the current situation in both worlds, and nothing really happened. Meh. Anyhow… just, uh, leave a review anyways even if nothing happened.


	2. Chapter 1: Voya Nui

**Author's Notes: **Yay! I'm updating… meh. Nothing really happens in this chappie either. I'm still at introductions. Hehe… I'm doing the introduction for the Bionicle characters. But don't worry, the Guardians will come in soon… as in when something actually happens. Yay!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H., don't own Bionicle, blah blah blah…

Toa Inika Jaller frowned as he reviewed their battle plan with Garan, the chief of the Voya Nui Resistance Team.

"I don't know, Garan, Matoro can't stay alone if he's spying, and… no offence, but I don't think Dalu would manage to protect him from danger."

The Onu-Matoran scoffed. "Are you saying you don't believe in Dalu's skills? She's a warrior, Toa!"

"And the Piraka are former Dark Hunters, Matoran." replied the Toa Inika.

But who could protect Matoro if not Dalu? He doubted any of his fellow Toa would want to stay by a limp body all the time. Then again, he could be wrong… making decisions was so frustrating. He didn't really blame Turaga Vakama for momentarily deserting the other Toa Metru. And what if he made a mistake? Everyone was counting at him. Sure, he was a leader as a Matoran. He was the Captain of the Ta-Koro Guard. But this was different. The Ignika was powerful, dangerous even. He couldn't afford to make mistakes. And besides, the Ta-Koro Guard always had Toa Tahu to back them up.

But then again, now **he** was a Toa. Despite the responsibility, he still had the privileges of owning Toa armor, and, well, a mask with special abilities. His mask was the Calix, Kanohi Mask of Fate. It allowed him to accomplish deeds seemingly impossible. Like finding the Ignika… or not.

"Then we'll have Piruk spy." said Garan. "Matoro can stay with you Toa."

Jaller nodded. "Fine. That's great. Now, tell me more about the protodermis lake over here…" he said, pointing at an extremely detailed map of Voya Nui.

&&&

Toa Inika Hahli paced around the beach, seemingly uptight and stressed out. After a good couple of minutes, she finally slumped down on the sand and threw her arms up towards the air in an exasperated gesture.

"Well what is it?" she half-asked, half-screamed. Strange thing was, she seemed to be talking at thin air, as there was no one anywhere near her.

Then she felt it. Her Kanohi Elda, the Mask of Detection, suddenly sent her a jolt of pain, resulting in a horrible, sudden headache. She recognized this sign. It meant something was coming. Most likely Dalu, the warrior of the group.

The Toa Inika of Water was downright puzzled by her mask ability. Sure, knowing everyone's position was cool and all, but did it have to be so damn painful? Still, at least it prevented anyone from sneaking up on her…

Hahli sighed. Did she ask for so much excitement in her life? No. She was an average Ga-Matoran once. Then, she was chosen to represent her village in the kolhii tournament along with her best friend Macku. Strangely enough, they had somehow managed to win the tournament, and then she was chosen as the new Chronicler when the former Chronicler, Takua, put on the Kanohi Mask of Light and transformed into a Toa. Then they had rediscovered Metru Nui, and moved there to live. But did the peace ever last? No-brainer question. When Jaller had asked her to come with him to aid the Toa Nuva, she had agreed without really given it much though. But what was there to think about? Someone had to save the Toa.

But the lightning was so… unexpected. And now, she was a Toa herself. Was she ready for this task? Only time would tell…

&&&

Toa Inika Kongu glared at the offending Ta-Matoran. "You really bad-think I look-seem bad-weird?" he asked in Treespeak, the slang used by all the inhabitants of Le-Metru.

Balta gawked at him in disbelief. "Wha-what? I never said such a thing!" he protested.

Kongu crossed his arms across his chest. "Nay, but Matoran think-bad it! Bad to criticize Toa-hero!"

"… Eh… sorry?"

"Matoran not sorry to Toa-hero Kongu! Matoran just fake-pretend to be sorry!" accused Kongu.

Balta sighed. That was why he insisted to not be left alone with the Toa of Air, but Garan paid no attention to his protests. The Toa's Kanohi Mask of Telepathy, the Suletu, was really getting to him. Couldn't he have been left with Nuparu or someone like him?

"Oh, so now Matoran prefer Toa-brother Nuparu to Kongu!"

Kongu didn't really like it any better than Balta. Knowing all the negative things people thought of him was annoying. Thing was, he didn't know how to turn off his mask ability.

_But Nuparu got the Mask of Flight instead of me…_ True enough, the Onu-Matoran had the Kanohi Mask of Flight, which was absolutely illogical to the Toa of Air. He was the one who had spent his entire life flying on Gukko birds! In fact, he was the Captain of Le-Koro's Gukko Force! Nuparu had always lived underground messing around with his inventions. It just wasn't fair.

He scowled as he caught another stray thought from the Ta-Matoran. Deciding not to bring it up, he turned away and walked until he was far enough to not hear anymore of the stuff going on in Balta's head.

&&&

Toa Inika Matoro breathed in, and let it all out again. He repeated the simple exercises once more.

Ever since he became a Toa and had figured out how to use the Iden, his Kanohi Mask of Spirit, he had felt more at piece with himself. His Kanohi allowed his to detach his spirit from his body. While in that intangible form, his body was vulnerable, a great disadvantage. But he now viewed himself as a balance of body and mind. The visible and the invisible.

Opening his yellow-green eyes, he stretched his arms and thought of Turaga Nuju, who was still back on Metru Nui. The Turaga didn't talk in the Matoran tongue. Sure, he was able to; he just preferred to speak Rahi. As a result, he needed a translator by his side: Matoro.

The Toa of Ice frowned. He hadn't thought about Nuju when he had accepted to leave with Jaller. And now that he was a Toa, he didn't have time to translate a Turaga's words. Besides, he had a world to save. It seemed so hopeless though…

"Good day, Toa." said Piruk's voice.

Matoro turned to him and smiled. "Hey there."

The Le-Matoran was rubbing the claws he carried with him together, creating this annoying screeching sound. It was some sort of nervous habit of his. "Everything's fine, Toa."

Matoro nodded. "Great." He walked away. Turning for a brief moment, but still walking, he waved. "Catch you later, Piruk."

&&&

Toa Inika Hewkii grinned. He was practicing his newfound elemental abilities.

He willed a rock to sprout out from the ground. The rock was coated in electricity, which was perfectly normal. Okay, not so normal. Toa Nuva Pohatu didn't have electricity coating his rocks. But Hewkii wasn't Pohatu.

Since the Toa Inika transformed when they were hit by a **lightning** bolt, they couldn't use their elemental powers with lightning accompanying them. Which was fine with Hewkii, of course. The word 'Inika' meant 'energy from a star' in the Matoran language, whilst the word 'Piraka' meant 'thief and murderer'.

The Toa took a couple of steps backwards, then charged towards the enery-coated rock. His goal to kick it, and just before contact with the rock, his Kanohi Mask of Accuracy, the Sanok, activated itself.

The rock flew through the air at an amazing speed, before hitting a tree at the exact spot Hewkii had aimed for. The rock bounced off and rolled on the ground for a moment, and Hewkii could clearly see that it had left quite a mark on the tree. He laughed in triumph and did a funny little victory dance.

As a Matoran, Hewkii had been a famous athlete and champion at the game of kolhii. He had always been a team player, and he rarely lost.

"Just **what** are you doing?"

"Ah!" exclaimed the Po-Toa, startled. He spun around to find himself face to face with Kazi, the Ko-Matoran. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" he said harshly.

Kazi rolled his eyes. "Riight, sure. I snuck up on you… "

Hewkii narrowed his eyes. The sarcastic Ko-Matoran could be annoying sometimes…

&&&

Toa Inika Nuparu gazed at Velika's contraptions curiously. He had always been an inventor, and inventions still fascinated him. He couldn't ask the Po-Matoran any questions about them though; Velika was sort of… weird. He always talked in incomprehensible riddles that no one really seemed to understand. Except Garan of course. And Kongu, who just scanned his mind with his Kanohi Mask of Telepathy.

Come to think of it, Kongu was probably still mad about the fact that he got the Kanohi Mask of Flight. Nuparu couldn't help but smirk slightly at that thought. But the Kanohi Mask of Flight, the Kadin, was tricky to control. Once airborne, the former Onu-Matoran had trouble getting on solid ground again.

Velika turned to him slowly, a funny look on his face.

"…Yes?" asked the Toa of Earth uncertainly.

The Po-Matoran wordlessly popped some sort of weapon into Nuparu's outstretched hand. "Zamor Sphere Launcher." he said simply, before turning back to his work.

Nuparu's eyes widened at the weapon in his hands. As he turned it over and examined the fine detail it had been crafted with, he couldn't help but hold his breath in fascination. He'd seen weapons before, but now this one belonged to him…

Velika then turned back to him. "The Zamor Spheres hold the power of the liquid of life, capable of reversing the Piraka's poison."

Nuparu gazed at him for a while, before asking, "You mean… the Zamor Spheres are made out of protodermis, which would reverse the effects of the Piraka's antidermis… and free the Matoran of Voya Nui!" he exclaimed eagerly.

Velika nodded.

&&&

Axonn and Brutaka. Two Guardians and protectors of Voya Nui, and both members of the Order of Mata Nui. But ever since the Great Cataclysm, the event in which Mata Nui fell into a deep sleep and resulted in the island of Voya Nui breaking off from another continent, Brutaka has believed that Mata Nui has abandoned them.

So now Brutaka has allied himself with the Piraka, and Axonn with the Matoran.

&&&

Zaktan the Snake, Hakann the Bully, Thok the Drifter, Vezok the Beast, Avak the Trigger, and Reidak the Tracer.

The names of the six Piraka. Those who, upon arriving to the lair of the now missing evil spirit Makuta, who was also the brother of Mata Nui, learnt of the legendary Ignika. But there is a seventh Piraka. A being who was created when a Staff of Fusion shot Vezok backwards, resulting in a defusing. The remaining result was the seventh Piraka.

He had betrayed the other Piraka and came to Voya Nui before them. And he had found the Mask of Life. But when he touched the Kanohi, he was somehow drawn into its grasp. He wears it now, and is fused to the back of a spider-like creature named Fenrakk. He serves the mask now, and became one of the Ignika's legendary guardians.

His name: Vezon.

**Author's Notes: **Methinks I'm going to kill someone off.

(awkward silence)

What? I like killing people! …OMG that totally came out wrong. I mean, 'I like killing people!' how crazy does that sound?

Yeah… anyhow…

(more awkward silence)

So… you guys ever watch the Bionicle Music video? It rawks, seriously. Eh… here's the link in case yur interested:

http :// www. lego .com /eng /bionicle /onlinemovies . aspx ?lcpbionicle OnlineMovies PageItems (insert equal sign here... u guys all know what that is, right? The thing with the two lines...)15

Yeah. Just remove the spaces. :)


	3. Chapter 2: Encounter

**Author's Notes: **Okay, okay, so something abtually happens in this chappie. That cool or what? Hee. And I need more readers/reviews people… plz?

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H., don't own Bionicle, blah blah blah… you get the point, hun?

Irma Lair felt herself nodding off as the tutor whom her parents had hired rambled on and on…

"…and three-fifth of this number is equal to what exactly, since you are paying **so** much attention?"

"Hun?" She lifted her head from the wooden desk lazily. "Um… some sort of decimal number?" she offered.

The tutor sighed. "Look-"

Irma's watch suddenly beeped and her face lit up. "Ha!" she declared triumphantly, "4:00. I'm dismissed!" Grabbing her bag and hastily stuffing in her math textbook (which then crushed her science assignment which was also in her bag), she hopped off her chair, slung her handbag over her shoulder, and walked through the doorway. She couldn't resist throwing a wink at the tutor who was staring at her in disbelief though.

But there was another reason she was so eager to get away, apart from the obvious fact that her tutor was **dead** boring. Taranee had slipped her a telepathic message in Art Class. There was going to be another W.I.T.C.H. meeting this afternoon. Apparently, the Heart had been acting strangely lately, and Will was concerned. But Irma simply believed the Oracle, or as he was now called, Himerish, had finally woken up.

After a minute or so, she realized she was practically skipping across the sidewalk. Grinning slightly to herself, she slowed down to a slight jog. Maybe she was hanging with Hay-Hey too much.

Besides an insignificant run-in with a car, she made it to the door of the house that was previously Mrs. Rudolph's without incident. Mrs. Rudolph was happily back in Metamoor now, so the house belonged to them, which was actually kind of cool. Irma thought of it as their secret hideout.

Her hand moved to the doorbell, but the door was ripped open, yes **ripped** open, before she could press it. Cornelia (surprise, surprise…) was standing there. "Hey, you're late, you know?"

Irma quirked an eyebrow sarcastically. "Oh, because it is **so** my fault that Mr. Grimly wouldn't let me go."

Cornelia rolled her eyes as Irma walked through the door. "Well, yeah, maybe if you hadn't failed every one of your math tests this term you wouldn't **need** a tutor," she retorted.

Irma walked into the living room where the others girls were seated around a table and slumped onto a vacant space on the couch, dropping her handbag on the floor. "Well bite my head off, why don't you? God, Corny."

Cornelia scoffed and sat down on another couch, directly opposite to Irma. She was about to reply with some sort of smart remark when Will cut in.

"Guys? Um, I don't want to interrupt," she said, "but I think the Oracle wants us. **Now**."

The Water Guardian winked. "Yeah, the boss wants to see us. I'm betting he's got another mission or something for us." She patted their leader on her back. "Lead the way, Will!"

The redhead nodded. "Cornelia? The Breath of Time?"

"Don't need to remind me."

"Great." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened them, the Heart of Kandrakar was gleaming brightly in the palm of her hand. "Take us to Kandrakar."

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, they were enveloped by blinding light. Irma couldn't help but flinch. They had done this so many times before, but teleportation always had this strange alien sensation linked to it. Being whipped from one's current position to a completely other **dimension** completely always left her feeling disoriented.

When the woozy sensation finally stopped, she found herself surrounded by the now all-too-familiar Congregation. She, along with the other girls, had transformed into their elegant Guardian alter-egos.

The hall of the Congregation was still the same, with its prefect mosaics set upon greenish walls. Through the windows brilliant light poured in, bathing the whole chamber in warmth.

In the middle of the hall, Himerish was sitting before them in the lotus position. He was smiling slightly in greeting, but everyone present could feel the tense atmosphere in the celestial room. Whatever the Oracle had to say, it sure wasn't going to be pretty. Had she done something wrong again without being aware of it? "Greetings to you, Guardians of Kandrakar! I am pleased to note that you answered to my call, for we have great need of you at this moment." he stated formally, like he always did.

Will nodded. "We will serve you the best we can, Oracle."

"You'd have to if you want to succeed on this mission…" he muttered more to himself than to them. "I need you to retrieve an artifact for us."

Irma cut in. "What? Have we been demoted or something? You just want us to fetch something for you?"

The words just came bursting out, but the Oracle simply sighed. "Please, Irma, patience. I shall explain."

"Well that's a first."

Paying no heed to the Water Guardian's sarcasm, Himerish continued, "I need you to bring us the Ignika, Kanohi Mask of Life."

"Ig-wha?" asked Hay Lin.

Yan Lin then came towards them, appearing from what seemed to be absolutely nowhere, with a heavy leather-covered book with a gold lock. "Ignika, my dear Hay Lin," she said, "a powerful mask which has **absolute** control over the forces of life. Here, read this." She thrust the book into Will's arms, and opened it with a bronze key she had happened to be holding.

With the other Guardians of Kandrakar huddled close to her in an almost comical attempt to catch a glimpse of the ancient book, Will started reading, loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"The Ignika is a Kanohi, a special type of mask with special attributes which could only be used by a biomechanical being. It has absolute power over the mighty element of Life, and is just as powerful as the Vahi, Kanohi of Time.

"It was forged by the members of the Congregation right shortly after the creation of Kandrakar. Then, with the Oracle's consent, it was placed on a biomechanical world, under a volcano. Soon after, the Order of Mata Nui, an order dedicated to protecting the Great Spirit Mata Nui, discovered it and sent guardians to protect it.

"It is also said that only one being, chosen by destiny, may carry it. Anyone else who touches it will be cursed." She winced at the last phrase. "Nevertheless, the guardians keep it safe with stunning ferocity against friend and foe alike."

She paused. "Friend **and** foe alike?" she repeated.

Irma rolled her eyes. "Wow, like just how much **sense** does that make?"

The other Guardians of Kandrakar all shrugged, before turning back to the heavy volume resting in Will's hands.

But the Keeper of the Heart shook her head regretfully. "Sorry guys, there's really nothing else in here." She snapped the book shut, and handed it back to Yan Lin.

The Oracle then spoke, his voice still in a neutral tone. "But you must understand that the current situation of the Ignika is much more complicated. The volcano on which it was placed broke off from the rest of the continent and is now drifting at sea."

Irma smirked. "Well it's not **that** bad, Oracle."

Himerish gave Irma a gaze that clearly meant it was going to be harder then she had thought. He stopped floating and uncrossed his legs, his bare feet now touching the silver floor. He lifted an arm gracefully. "Now Guardians, **depart**."

Before any of them could protest, they were engulfed in a blinding light once more.

&&&

Kongu ran faster than the Rahi, but the Burnak was determined to catch him. The large feline-like beast was still chasing after him with rabid rage.

The Toa Inika of Air cursed and sprinted further off. "If only I could high-fly like Toa-friend Nuparu, large Rahi-beast wouldn't catch-hurt me. Kongu Toa-hero too!" he said to himself, leaping agilely over a rotten log. Too bad the log didn't prove an obstacle for the Burnak either.

The Rahi beast stopped in its tracks and sniffed the air. Kongu slowed to a jog and looked over his shoulder. He frowned as the Rahi seemingly forgot all about him and darted off somewhere else. "Hun?" Creasing his brow, his Mask of Telepathy activated itself.

In the mind of the Rahi beast, he distinguished one thought: food. It had found some other prey… _Oh, no. _No doubt it had caught the scent of some stray Matoran or something…

Sighing, the Toa of Air turned and ran after the Rahi. _Being a Toa-hero comes with pros and cons, Turaga Matau…_

At that moment, the clouds let go of their heavy load, and rain started falling on Voya Nui…

&&&

Hay Lin had stepped forwards to ask her grandmother more about the Order of Mata Nui, but stopped when she realized that she was no longer in the divine fortress of Kandrakar, but in the middle of some bizarre forest. "Hun?"

She really should have been used to this by now. Except this time, she saw that she was alone. Either the other girls had ditched her-they wouldn't do that-or they had landed in different areas of this world. In which case, she had to find her friends pronto. Man did she envy Taranee's telepathic capabilities at the moment.

_Okay, don't panic, you're just on an alien world… all **alone**… and-oh, no. _She felt a drop of water hit her nose. It was quickly followed by another, and another. In the space of a few seconds, the sky had started **pouring** water on her. She covered her head with her arms desperately, and ran around the place looking for shelter._ Oh, could this get **any **worse? Alone on an alien world, and it's raining. Great. Perfect. **Swell**. It's cold…_

Stumbling over some branches, she wished Irma was present. She could have created a shield from the rain, a magical umbrella, with a snap of her fingers. She stopped in her tracks when a low growl reached her ears. She looked around her frantically, trying to distinguish anything between the thick undergrowth. She stepped backwards into a puddle, wetting her purple boots. "Who-who's there?" she asked, trying to hide her fear in her voice.

There was a loud, sharp, growling and a green figure surged out of the bushes right in front of her, and pounced. The beast looked a lot like the remote-control tiger Irma's brother, Christopher liked to play with, except enlarged at least ten times. Hay Lin screamed, and instinctively raised her hands to protect herself and sent a powerful gust of wind at the beast, sending it flying backwards.

It landed on all four paws, and snarled, showing rows of gleaming white teeth, and glared at her with two big yellow eyes. _What **is** that thing? Some sort of **robot**?_ she asked herself. _I've never seen anything like it before. Oh, wait; this is an alien world… _

She braced herself for combat with the creature, but was startled to hear a masculine voice, originating from a… **tree**?

"Oh, no you don't, Rahi-beast!"

A figure dropped from the branches and landed right on the creature's back. He didn't seem any more organic than the creature that had just attacked her but appeared fairly confident in his skills though, since he laughed as he wrestled the beast.

"Come on, now, let's see if riding a Burnak is anything like riding a Gukko bird!" he laughed. He had his long arms wrapped around the beast's neck, and was crushing it under his weight. Hay Lin noticed that he was also holding some sort of shiny weapon in his right hand.

The Burnak(as the stranger had called it), enraged, bit down on his arm, and when he had loosened his grip, agilely wriggled out of his grasp.

"Owwww!" he howled, clutching his arm. "That hurt-bad, you stupid Rahi!" he shouted. Pointing his weapon at the Burnak, he aimed, and a bolt of laser shot out of it, nailing the Burnak in the head.

The beast roared one last time in defiance before retreating, fleeing back into the undergrowth.

The stranger, satisfied, lowered his arm, then turned to examine Hay Lin. It was then that the Air Guardian finally got a good look at her savior.

He was bulky enough, and also, for the most part, **green. **Hay Lin noted that as the reason why she hadn't found him earlier; his green complexion provided natural camouflage in the dense jungle region. He wore silver armor on his chest and his shoulders. He had two flat feet which, honestly, reminded Hay Lin of duck feet, with four small toes on each one. And then there was his face. It was also green, but seemed to be the only part of his body that was organic… in a reptilian sort of way. He had a fearsome expression, and stared at her with large yellow-green eyes.

He made the Metamoorians look perfectly normal in comparison.

He spoke first. "Who are you?"

Hay Lin couldn't tell if his tone was friendly, neutral, or hostile. _Well, since this is **his **world, and **I **am the intruder here, it suppose it's only fitting I introduce myself **first**. _Struggling to try to smile, she answered in a small voice, "Um… my name's Hay Lin, and I'm the, uh, Guardian of Air."

He simply cocked his head to one side and stared at her funny. "Guardian? Where do you originate-come from?"

"Earth."

He cocked an eyebrow at this, but made no comment, so Hay Lin dared to ask, "And who might **you** be?"

He seemed to smile then, but Hay Lin wasn't sure. Then, standing up as straight as he could, puffing up his chest, he pointed at himself and declared proudly, "You're talking to Kongu, **Toa**-hero Inika of Air."

The Air Guardian blinked blankly. She had absolutely **no** idea what he was talking about, but it was obviously some sort of title that he was very proud of having, so she forced herself to smile and pretended to understand. "That's… amazing, Kongu. So, um, are all the people on this planet like you?" she inquired.

When she saw Kongu's smile disappear and his eyes narrow, she knew she had made some sort of mistake. _Oh no, I think I somehow offended him…_

"Of course not!" exploded Kongu. "I'm a **Toa**! A Toa! You get it, a **Toa**-hero!"

_Um… okay, a **Toa**… _Biting her lip, she asked, "And what exactly is a Toa?"

Kongu looked like he was about to faint. "Mata Nui, what is wrong with you?" he asked, more to himself than to her.

Hay Lin really didn't know what else to do but smile sweetly at him.

&&&

Avak chuckled as he watched the enslaved Matoran dig. "Faster, faster!" he crowed, large smile lighting up his hideous face. He was leaning against a metal railing. On the other side was an immense hole the Matoran had been digging at his request. His red eyes surveyed the scene with cruel pleasure. He kicked the metal railing and left a large dent in it. "Faster!" he roared.

The brainwashed Matoran were working as hard as they could. Their digging claws dug in the stone and scratched at it numerous times. They were focused on nothing but their task. Avak didn't care though.

"Faster!" He raised his dual weapon, which was a combination of a pickaxe and a jackhammer, and waved it at them threatening. "Zaktan told me to make sure you guys worked… so work!"

He winked at a Matoran who had just tripped over a rock. "Aww… are you okay?" He climbed over the railing and jumped into the hole, landing right next to the Matoran, who was flat on his face.

When he tried to get up, Avak casually stepped on his frame with his left foot, pinning him down. He bent down and asked, "Are you tired? Do you want a break? Well you **can't** have one!" he teased cruelly, and breaking into a fit of maniacal laughter, apparently finding the situation funny. Lifting his foot from the Matoran, he kicked him, sending him flying. He finally landed on another Matoran, and the impact made the other Matoran fall as well.

Avak sneered. "Get back to work." he growled. "Now."

He used his dual weapon to help him climb out of the hole, which had grown quite large. That was to be expected. After all, the Matoran worked day and night on it, and only because Avak had a** hunch **that they would eventually find something that would help them find the Ignika.

When he dragged himself over the railing, he found Reidak there, waiting for him. The Earth Piraka grunted, "My shift." Then he fell silent.

Avak sneered at him, then turned his back and walked away from the hole. "I'm going for a walk," he said to Reidak, "and I'll be back in time for my shift. Oh, and, try not to kill any of the Matoran until I get back."

&&&

"Ugh, my feet hurt! I'm not made for walking long distances!" Cornelia Hale complained to, well, **thin air**, seeing as there was no one around. She blew a stray strand of her long blonde hair away form her face, agitated.

She was standing on some sort of stone plateau, with, well, not much in sight but rocks. And more rocks. Just for the heck of it, she made a plant sprout out of a crack in the ground with a wave of her hand. It grew with unnatural speed, and when it had reached a height of about a meter, it stopped abruptly and at its tip, a red flower, with a diameter of roughly a decimeter blossomed.

She smiled and stepped back to examine her work. Crystal-blue orbs looked the delicate plant over, until, satisfied, she finally declared, "There! That should add some life to this otherwise **dull** and **boring** place."

Her celebration was cut short when a laser blast suddenly appeared and **incinerated** her beautiful creation. Her jaw dropped as her brain registered what had just taken place. Cornelia spun around to face the one responsible for its destruction.

A brown figure was sneering at her gleefully, weapon in hand. It looked like one of those biomechanical beings the Oracle was talking about. And this one was guilty of the total destruction of one of Cornelia's plants.

The Earth Guardian opened her mouth to reprimand him when he laughed. "Hey," he said, "I don't know who the hell you are, but make me another one of those targets, would you? I need to work on my aim." He crossed his arms and continued sneering, waiting for Cornelia's reaction.

_Who does this guy think he is?_ fumed Cornelia inwardly. "Y-you… you jerk! You can't just walk around shooting anything you want!" she screeched.

Anyone who knew Cornelia personally would've known to back off. Not Avak though. His sneer faded and he growled. "Why can't I?" he demanded.

Taken aback, Cornelia blinked a few times, before answering, "Because it's other people's property! What, you got rocks for brains?"

Avak's orange-red eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why, I'll teach you not to mess with Avak!" he roared. Uncrossing his arms, he raised his left arm. He was holding a Zamor Sphere Launcher, and he aimed it at Cornelia.

Her eyes grew wide. Someone was going to shoot at her with some sort of weapon. Reacting quickly, she bent down and placed her hands on the rocky floor, and willed her green magic to flow through her body and out of her fingertips.

Avak's sneer reappeared as his finger pressed down on the trigger, and released the antidermis-loaded Zamor.

&&&

Hakann growled with pleasure as he lowered his dual weapon, a lava launcher with a claw on the other end, into a stream of magma. He smirked as his launcher, which was previously empty, filled up with ammunition.

The Piraka raised his weapon and stared at it fondly. A small Gafna, a sort of scorpion-like Rahi, scurried by. Hakann grinned as he felt his eyes heat up, then sent a devastating blast of heat towards the poor creature, who squeaked in agony upon impact.

Hakann laughed as he watched the defenseless creature burn up, then he kicked away the remains after it had died. That was Hakann alright. Killing Rahi for no apparent reason was a hobby of his.

He laughed cruelly, then turned his head around in search for more prey.

&&&

Taranee yelped in surprise as a small creature skidded past her. It looked like a big, red and white scorpion to her. Second one she's seen so far.

_The wildlife here is quite diverse, considering that it's a **volcanic** region, _she noted.

_Yeah, huh? _came Will's voice in her head. _I'm in some sort of, erm, **cold** place. Okay, so it's friggen' **freezing** here! Just snow, snow, and more snow… Surprising how the climate varies around here. Doesn't make much sense, unless we're on **complete** other sides of the planet, which I sincerely hope **isn't** the case._

Taranee smirked wryly. _Yeah… I know it's weird. Here, I'll see if I can find Irma. _

Concentrating, she struggled to find her friend's mind, then linked them.

_Irma? You hear me? _she asked.

_Taranee! What took you so long?_

_Sorry. Where are you, by the way?_

_Er… I've been walking along a beach for a while, _replied the Water Guardian.

_Beach? _asked Will, _You're at a **beach**? Lucky enough, I'm caught in the middle of a blizzard._

Taranee stared at another one of those scorpion-like creatures. It was traveling the in same direction as the other one. Seemed as though they were trying to escape something…

She turned her attention back to her conversation. _I contacted Cornelia a while ago. She's at a plateau somewhere… bare desert-like place._

_And Hay Hey? _asked Irma, curious as to where her best friend disappeared off to.

_No, not yet… should I?_

_Why not? We need to be together at a time like this…_ answered Will.

Irma agreed with her, so Taranee closed her eyes to focus… when something sizzling **hot **zipped by her face. Her eye snapped open and she saw, a fair distance away, a red figure smirking and kicking at one of those scorpion creatures. He didn't look too friendly, and he held a dangerous looking weapon in each of his hands.

He laughed harshly. "Hey there. That's one shot down, so I've got four more left in this here lava launcher. Four is three more than enough." His voice was harsh and his sharp teeth looked really menacing.

_Taranee? What's wrong? _Will's voice was filled with concern.

_I-I… there's this ugly looking brute standing in front of me. _

Irma answered her. _So what does he want?_

Taranee voiced her question to him. "What do **you** want?"

Hakann appeared to be hurt. "Hey… is that any way to treat a Piraka?"

The Fire Guardian just shot him a quizzical look. _Guys, what's a Piraka?_

Irma seemed as clueless on the subject as she was. _I don't know; you're the smart one, Tara._

Hakann interrupted. "Well don't just stand there!" he growled, "Pay attention when I, Hakann, am talking!" He shook his head. "Why am I even bothering? Might as well add you to my legion of slaves…"

&&&

Hahli peered at the Water Gafna from behind her mask. The Rahi matched her gaze. The Toa of Water frowned when the Gafna scurried away. _Too bad, I'll just have to find something else to do then…_

She turned her gaze to the rising tide and shuffled closer to the water. As the liquid touched her toes, it began to cackle with electricity. _Curious way of turning into a Toa; getting struck by lightning. _

It was Kazi's theory that the bolt of lightning had been sent by the Great Beings themselves. Kongu was skeptical, Matoro believed him, and Hahli just didn't know what to think. _Water conducts electricity…_

It was true enough. But that made her extremely powerful. She could electrocute just about anyone who had as little as a toe in water.

It was then that her Mask of Detection suddenly reacted again. She gave a small cry as the sharp headache appeared without warning, then disappeared just as abruptly. _Someone's coming… _Who could it be? The Toa were all busy with the Matoran in the icy regions of the island. Well, except Kongu, who had gone for a walk in the jungle. And she doubted her mask would disturb her on account of a Rahi. So who was it?

&&&

_I don't know; you're the smart one, Tara. _

The Fire Guardian didn't answer her, causing Irma to frown. _Tara?_

Still no response. It was then that she realized Will was gone too. Taranee had cut their link. "Aww…"

She kicked at a pebble on the beach. It was then that she noticed a set of **inhuman **footprints. Her eyes widened, but she quickly calmed herself down. _Well, it is to be expected. This place **is** populated._

But the footprints looked fresh. The brunette lifted her head. She could have sworn she heard something. Irma froze when she felt something sharp against her back.

"Don't move." The voice was commanding, and noticeably female.

The Water Guardian smiled feebly and raised her arms. "Okay, okay. Not moving." She eyed the water though. She was at a beach, putting her in an advantageous position. To her delight, the water shifted slightly.

"Who are you?"

She shrugged. "I could ask you the same thing, you know."

"Are you allied with the Piraka?"

There it was. The same word that Taranee had used. She decided to be cautious with this matter. "Are you?"

The sharp object poked at her back. "I asked first."

She winced. "Okay, okay. Um, I don't even know what a Piraka is!"

She heard a sigh of relief (or was it agitation?) behind her, and the sharp object lowered. "Turn around, and don't try anything funny."

She complied, and had to force herself to not gasp when she saw the one who was previously threatening her. **Inhuman **wasn't strong enough a word to describe her. _Just like the Oracle boss man said. Biomechanical. _

The face was odd enough. It looked like she was wearing some sort of weird-looking scuba-diving mask. The yellow-green eyes stared straight back at Irma, who thought it was an appropriate time to break the awkward silence.

"So, uh…" Her eyes subconsciously moved to the sharp object which had been poking at her back. It was activated with a laser and glowing brightly. "What exactly are the Piraka? And who are you?"

Those eyes just kept staring, and a long time passed before she finally answered, "I'm Hahli, former Chronicler of Metru Nui, and Toa of Water. Who are **you**?"

&&&

Garan cursed when he tripped over an icy stump. He fell flat on the snow, his arms and legs spread out. He got up slowly, pushing himself off the snow with his pulse bolt generators, and spat out a mouthful of frozen water.

He squinted, attempting to distinguish shapes in the raging blizzard. "By Mata Nui, this is like being blindfolded!"

Garan was heading to his hideout, where the other Matoran and most of the Toa were, when he got caught in the blizzard. He didn't like this. He could get attacked by a Rahi at any moment. Not to mention that the Onu-Matoran, being black, stood out like a sore thumb in this sea of white. "This accursed island…"

True, Voya Nui had been his home for as long as he could remember, but still, the place was nicknamed the 'Daggers of Death'. Why? Because of its unreasonably **harsh** climate, of course.

He trudged forwards, even though he had no idea where he was going. He had lost all sense of direction about ten minutes ago anyways. He thought he heard an Ice Burnak roar somewhere.

He tripped again. Scolding himself for his clumsiness, he got back up and shook the snow off his body. _Pull yourself together, Garan. You've fought with Piraka and survived, you can't let a little bit of inconvenient weather take you down!_

Garan stumbled once more. _Damn… where am I going?_ "Mata Nui help me…" The Onu-Matoran raised an arm to protect his face from a gust of wind.He couldn't repress a violent shiver. _Ah… I'm not going to last long at this rate…_

&&&

Will bit her lip when Taranee's voice disappeared from her head. _Oh, god, I hope she's alright… _The Keeper of the Heart had her own problems though. As in the sudden transformation from **just** snowing, to violent blizzard.

Her eyes desperately scanned the landscape for any sign that might help. Nothing. Just a **lot** of snow. If she had to guess, then she'd say that the only reason she wasn't already an icicle was because of the Heart of Kandrakar, nestled deep within her being.

_Wait a minute…_ what was that? There was a speck of black in the horizon. Either that or she was hallucinating. And she could have sworn the black dot was moving. So it was alive. Friend of foe, though? Will didn't really care at the moment, and decided to take her chances. Anything was better then staying lost in the middle of a snowstorm. Flailing her arms around, she shouted, "Hey! Hey! Over here! Hey!"

The black figure seemed to hear her, as it stopped in its tracks. After a brief moment, the dot seemed to grow bigger. It ran towards her. It seemed an eternity until it was finally close enough for Will to see it properly though.

It was a fairly… short guy. Actually, she was surprised he had run so fast with those stubby legs. Almost completely black, with something on his face that couldn't have possibly been anything other than one of those Kanohi-or-whatever-they-were-called things the Oracle mentioned. She sighed, and couldn't help but wish Himerish was more revealing. The short guy held two objects which looked like cutting tools in his hands, and stared at her curiously.

"Who are you? Friend or foe?" he asked, frowning. Will noted that he looked half-frozen. Or maybe the slight layer of ice that was forming was natural. She didn't know, she'd just been transported to another world where the **laws of physics** could have been different, for all she knew.

Will shivered. "Um, I'd kind of have to know who **you** are if you want me to answer that last question."

The black guy, who was moderately covered in snow, answered promptly. "I'm Garan, and I lead the Voya Nui Resistance Team! Now friend or foe?"

"… Sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just lost here! What about you? Do you know how to escape this blizzard?"

Garan tensed. "Well, you see, that's sort of the problem-"

He was interrupted by a blue laser blast that came right between them and struck a puny snow-covered tree which was in lethal danger of giving in to the raging wind at any moment. Both turned their heads just in time to witness the tree instantaneously freeze (okay, it was already frozen, but the ice became notably **thicker**).

A faint chuckling was heard, and both the Guardian and Matoran turned their heads away from the tree in a synchronized motion and their eyes set upon another figure who had somehow approached them without being noticed.

Garan's yellow eyes widened considerably and he murmured something so quietly that Will barely heard him, his voice filled with dread.

"Thok."

**Author's Notes: **5272 words! Whee! Okay, okay, so that's kinda low for the average writer, but it's like a new record for me! YES!

Haha, I think I just left you guys on **three **separate cliffhangers(having encountered Avak, Hakann, and Thok). Of course, I wouldn't be me if I didn't leave you on a cliffie. but three of them? LOL, I'm pure evil...

So, besides all the frustrating suspense, I hope you liked it so far. Yeah. LOL, I just noticed that even though I wrote each of the guardian's parts in a totally **random** sequence, I've somehow managed to spell the acronym W.I.T.C.H. **backwards**. Like I did **H**ay Lin/Kongu first, then **C**ornelia/Avak, **T**aranee/Hakann, **I**rma/Hahli, then **W**ill/Garan. Funny. LOL, XD

Okay, okay, I need more reviews here… I seriously feel like I'm being ignored. Yeah. Dude, being ignored is annoying. I should know, since I **do** have to struggle to maintain a social life. Meh.


	4. Chapter 3: Introductions

**Author's Notes: **Okay, kinda boring chapter here. Yeah… but this is the only one of my ongoing fics that I can write without getting stuck every second sentence, so that's why I'm working on it like crazy. Well, okay, there's my 'Flame of Betrayal' thing, but I'm scared to post the next chappie, cuz I kinda killed someone… (shuffles uncomfortably)

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H., don't own Bionicle. If I did, none of the two would be as popular as they currently are.

**Credits: **Seriously, my bro scares me sometimes. He knows almost **everything** about Bionicle. So instead of searching Wikipedia(which I also don't own, you lawsuits) whenever I encounter a technical problem(which happens a **lot**, trust me) I just go ask my bro, who's… kinda getting tired of all the questions. XD

"Who are you?" A perfectly reasonable question in Kongu's point of view.

"Um… my name's Hay Lin, and I'm the, uh, Guardian of Air."

"Guardian?" Kongu hadn't a clue what she was talking about, but decided to hide his ignorance in fear of appearing… not so bright. Instead, he chose to ask a smarter question. "Where do you originate-come from?"

"Earth."

Okay, now the Toa of Air was just downright puzzled. She claimed to be the Guardian of **Air**, but apparently she came from **Earth**. He smiled slightly behind his mask when he thought of Nuparu. As a Matoran, Nuparu had spent all his time underground, in the earth, but now, as a Toa, he had a bird's eye view from the air. Interesting. He looked Hay Lin over. Had she once been some sort of Earth Matoran who had transformed like Nuparu?

Hay Lin snapped him out of his musings when she asked, "And who might you be?"

"You're talking to Kongu, Toa-hero Inika of Air." He felt a surge of pride when he introduced himself, pointing at his chest. Maybe he was more like Turaga Matau than he thought. But still, who wouldn't be glad at the prospect of being a Toa, one of the legendary protectors of the world?

"That's… amazing, Kongu. So, um, are all the people on this planet like you?" His eyes narrowed. Didn't he just tell her that he was a Toa?

"Of course not! I'm a **Toa**! A Toa! You get it, a **Toa**-hero!"

"And what exactly is a Toa?"

He stared at her in bewilderment. How could she not know? Everyone knew what a Toa was! "Mata Nui, what is wrong with you?" he exclaimed, dumbstruck.

Hay Lin stood there smiling at him like an innocent Gukko Bird who wanted more food.

After blinking a few times and rubbing his head vigorously, he sighed and finally declared, in a tired tone that was unlike him, "You seriously don't know what a Toa is?"

She bit her lower lip. "Am I supposed to know?"

"…" What kind of question was that? Of course she was supposed to know! He squinted at her suspiciously, then used his Mask of Telepathy. The organic mask grew warm against his face, and sent the information shooting straight at him.

Kongu blinked and stepped back when he tapped into Hay Lin's thoughts. He found himself in her memories, in a different world. He stood there dazed, as he suddenly saw everything from her point of view, and absorbed all information that passed through her mind.

&&&

The Zamor collided with a barrier of solid rock and left a large crack in it at impact.

Avak grunted. "No fair… you want to know what else isn't fair?" He growled and stared, concentrating. He intended to use his prison ability, which allowed him to create a cell out of virtually nothing specifically designed to counter his opponent's powers.

He felt a sudden pain on his forehead as he got struck with a small pebble. He winced and cursed, the concentration required broken. Enraged, the Stone Piraka began randomly shooting Zamors.

Cornelia had ducked behind her fortified stone wall. The antidermis-loaded spheres either bounced off the wall, barely denting it, or missed completely, seeing as Avak hadn't even bothered to aim.

The heavy bombardment continued. It was an inefficient method, Avak knew that, but it sure felt good. When was the last time he had got the chance to break stuff like that?

He cried out when he was suddenly tackled from behind. Whoever tackled him held him on the ground, and crushed the stone Piraka under his weight.

"Idiot!" Oh. He'd recognize Reidak's voice anywhere.

Avak swung his arms around wildly. "Get off me!"

Like Reidak ever listened to him. Instead, he smacked him over the head with the flat side of his buzzsaw. Ouch. "Where'd you learn to go around wasting ammunition like that, rockhead?"

Avak winced in pain, muttering, "Does it matter to you?"

Earned him another blow on the side of his head. He growled and through brute strength, shook off Reidak and got back on his feet.

The Earth Piraka snarled at him, but Avak kept his cool, despite his burning desire to throw Reidak off a cliff. He probably would have, if it weren't for Reidak's ability to beat him to a pulp before he laid a hand on him.

Reidak glared at Avak one last time with all three of his eyes, before turning to the stone wall. He laughed harshly and raised his Zamor Sphere Launcher.

Avak cocked his head quizzically at this. Oh, so **he** wasn't allowed to shoot at an enemy blindly, but **Reidak** could? "No fair…" he grumbled, crossing his arms and sulking. He had a murderous expression in his eyes though. At that moment, there was no doubt that if he gets the chance, he **would** throw Reidak off a cliff… and hope he never climbs back up.

&&&

Hakann growled when a jet of flame shot out from the ground right in front of him. "Hey!" He tripped and fell over, landing right in a puddle of, well, molten lava. He got back up to his feet quickly, cursing. Damn good thing he was resistant to extreme heat, or he would've been scorched pretty badly. Roaring out of pure spite, he dipped his lava launcher into the same lava he had fallen into, then raised it and began shooting at the Fire Guardian wildly.

The missiles all swerved off-course and landed somewhere else. One of them stopped in mid-air, and was projected right back at his with some invisible force.

Hakann dodged it nimbly, then raised his weapon again. He was dismayed to find that his reservoir was empty. Five shots. That was all he had.

Cursing in frustration, his eyes darted around in search of ammunition. Wasn't really hard to find, since they were standing at the base of Mount Valmai, sole volcano on Voya Nui. He found a moderate-sized stream of lava not too far, and darted towards it as fast as his long legs and clawed feet could go.

He was cut off by a fireball the size of his head. It was a miracle he braked in time to avoid getting pulverized by it, considering the speed at which he was running. The sphere of fire passed by him, somewhat singing his chest.

His hateful gaze turned back to the Fire Guardian, and he raised his Zamor Sphere Launcher. He was just about to pull the trigger, when he felt a sudden pain in his back. He cried out and almost dropped his weapon. The Piraka quickly realized what had happened. _Accursed fireball just got me from behind! _

He fell to his knees. His immunity to heat only extended so far. Besides, he just got blasted. He allowed a small smirk at the thought that if Thok was in his position, he'd be burnt to a crisp.

Getting back up, he snorted. Okay, so his opponent seemed to have complete control over fire. Hmm, too bad. That meant his elemental attacks were no good… No biggie. He'd just have to improvise. Reidak wasn't the only one who could adapt.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Let's see you dodge this!"

Taranee looked wary, and her hands began to glow a bright red-orange, ready to counter whatever he was going to throw at her.

_Oh, I'm afraid not. This ends right **now**. _Planting his feet firmly in the ground, his eyes widened, and with all his mental strength, he launched one of his dreaded mental blasts.

&&&

Irma was always the type of person who **loved** to talk. Rants, jokes, whatever. As long as she had something to say. She rarely found herself speechless, as when she did, she'd just change the subject of conversation.

And now she was blabbering to save her life. Hahli, as she was called, never loosened her grip on her weapon, but she was captivated by Irma's tale. The two were seated on the coarse sand, and Irma was telling her about the time when they fought Phobos on Meridian, making it all the more interesting with lively hand gestures and **sometimes** exaggerating certain events.

Throughout the whole thing, Hahli never took her eyes off her. Sure, her story was convincing, and she had yet to find any plot holes, but the information was a little… much. These other worlds out there… sure, Hahli knew that the Great Beings were supposed to have created other universes, but she never thought she'd meet someone from on of these universes.

And now, according to Irma, these Great Beings were in fact the Congregation, who dwelled in the mystical Temple of Kandrakar, which was supposed to be in the center of infinity. Center of infinity… it didn't really make much sense to Hahli, and she showed her confusion with a slight frown, which Irma didn't notice anyways, but didn't interrupt the Water Guardian.

"…and then Cornelia, being Cornelia, decided to go off to Metamoor all by herself. Sheesh. Anyhow, she almost **drowned**, but was saved by the rebel leader, Caleb. Yeah. But you see, she wouldn't have come so close to drowning if I had been there, since I could easily have created a bubble of air of something. That's what she gets for going off by herself. It was a really stupid decision. She shouldn't have done it. But Corny does stuff like that **all** the time, and-"

Hahli cut her off. "Um, I think I get the point." She smiled wryly. Irma sure liked to emphasize on Cornelia's mistakes. Every time Hahli heard Cornelia's name mentioned, she was almost sure there was going to be a long narrative about how annoying she was. The Toa of Water, in an attempt to get Irma to talk about something else, asked, "So who's Caleb?"

The Water Guardian winked. "Ah, yes, **Caleb**. Believe it or not, he was actually a Murmurer."

Hahli narrowed her eyes and searched her memory. "Um, those are plant-like advisors to Phobos, right?"

"Bingo."

Hahli blinked, failing to understand what Irma was trying to say. _Bingo? _She kept quiet to hide her ignorance.

"Yeah, anyways, Caleb somehow developed a will of his own, and vowed to get rid of Phobos. He started a rebellion, much to the tyrant's annoyance, and, well, that was basically all he did. Ooh, and then, it appears that Cornelia and Caleb have been having dreams about each other even before they met. It's really weird actually."

Hahli nodded, obviously interested.

"Yeah, and for weeks, Cornelia wouldn't stop **gushing** over how Caleb was perfect and everything. It got so annoying. Hah, oh, you know, Phobos turned Caleb into a flower once. Cornelia was absolutely **devastated**. She stayed locked up in her room staring at the flower that was Caleb. And then, she got all big-headed and tried to bring him back. Hmm. She had absorbed-"

Hahli sighed. "You're getting off topic… again. What happened to Phobos?"

"Hun? Oh, right, Phobos…"

&&&

Garan froze at the sight of the monstrous face, and the cold, pitiless, eyes. He shivered at the sound of Thok's twisted laughter.

_Repulsive. _It was the only word he could find to describe the Piraka. The things they did were inexcusable. He just wanted to cry out in rage and make them pay for their crimes. They were just too strong though. Too strong… it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that they had so much power, yet used their gifts only to destroy. It wasn't fair that they, the hard-working Matoran who strived for the good of Voya Nui, were weak and helpless against them. It just wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair.

Garan found himself glaring at Thok, and clenching his tools. He wouldn't stand a chance if Thok wanted to fight him, but he could try. And maybe, just maybe, if he tried hard enough, he would miraculously prevail. Key word being **maybe**.

The white beast met Garan's glare. He chuckled. "Matoran… what was your name again? You're their leader right? You lead the rest of the free Matoran, don't you? What's your name?"

The Onu-Matoran was seething by then. He forgot the lack of heat. He forgot his pain. All he could focus on was his anger, his rage at being treated as nothing more than inferior beings to the Piraka. "I won't have my name fouled by being pronounced by you, Piraka."

Thok's sneer disappeared. "What? Don't try my patience, Matoran. I was trying to be nice."

Garan was practically shaking, completely consumed by his rage. These **monsters** had no respect for anyone other than themselves. "Nice? You were trying to be **nice**? Don't make me laugh, Piraka."

Thok flipped his dual weapon over, and raised it over his head, ready to bring down the lethal-looking ice peg on the Matoran, when he got blasted by a ray of energy and got propelled backwards, landing in a snow bank.

Garan turned his head and found the, uh, organic-looking… eh, **creature** (he really had no idea how to describe her) with her arm outstretched at facing Thok with a defiant glare. Garan had forgotten her. He also hadn't notice the blizzard subside, being overwhelmed with his anger.

Thok pushed himself back up and shook the snow off his figure. "Why you-! Ahh!" He shook his weapons, frustrated and at a loss for words. Regaining his composure, he flipped his dual weapon over once more, and this time it was his ice gun that was facing them.

"You want to fight? Fine!"

&&&

Hay Lin shuffled her feet during the awkward silence that followed. She leaned back against the tree, and watched Kongu with interest. He had closed his eyes, and looked as if he was trying to remember something. She looked down at her feet, and kicked a small pebble around. Her hands were behind her back, and she fingered the rough bark of the tree.

After what seemed like an eternity, Kongu's eyes opened again. Hay Lin bit her bottom lip, waiting for him to speak.

_You've led a colorful life, haven't you?_

She gasped surprised. His voice came from within her own mind. "How-… wha-… You're telepathic!" she exclaimed.

She could have sworn she saw him smile. _Not really… you see, it's this mask. It lets me into in minds of others. An intrusion of privacy, to be sure, but a useful ability. But you're not unfamiliar with telepathy, are you? After all, one of your friends possesses this ability as well._

Hay Lin nodded, and this time responded just by thinking it. _Yeah, Taranee. So… Kongu, just how much did you find out about me?_

The Toa of Air shrugged, and his mask stopped glowing. "Oh, enough to know why you're here." Then his expression became grave. "The Ignika is powerful, you know. I don't claim to be an expert in the matter, but it holds the fate of our world. Everything depends on it now."

Hay Lin fell silent. "And you? Where do you fit in all this?"

Kongu sighed. "You know, a few days ago, I didn't look anything like a do now. I was just a Matoran. But then somehow, I got tangled in this matter. The Toa Nuva, our protectors, disappeared from our home island, and none of us knew where they went. Then Turaga Nokama revealed to me, Jaller, Hahli, Matoro, Hewkii, and Nuparu, that Mata Nui, the Great Spirit, was nearing death, and that the only thing that could save him was the Ignika, and the Toa Nuva had set out to find it.

"Now, we Matoran, being brave and proud, set off to help the Toa, believing that we were needed, that we could make a difference. Well, our journey here was rough and eventful, but the most important event would be when we landed on the shores of Voya Nui. We were riding in Toa Canisters, when we were struck by lightning… and transformed." He looked down at Hay Lin. "You with me so far?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think I've got most of what you said…"

Kongu smirked. "That's okay. I wouldn't expect you to understand everything. It's a lot of information to take in, isn't it? But it appears we've both got one common goal."

Hay Lin agreed. It sure was. Then, she got an idea. "Hey, Kongu? Will you do me a favor?"

The Toa of Air blinked. "Uh… depends, doesn't it? What would you like me to do?"

"Not much. Just, since you're telepathic and all, could you contact my friends for me? Oh, maybe you could find Taranee. She's telepathic too."

Kongu winked. "Sure. And **I**'m not telepathic, for the last time. It's the mask. And I could try… though I've never contacted someone I've never met before."

He sat down and closed his eyes to improve concentration. His mask began glowing once more, and he tried his hardest to reach the Fire Guardian's consciousness. He found it, and linked his mind to hers. However, instead of the stream of thoughts he had grown accustomed to receiving, he felt an unbearable, searing pain.

**Author's Notes: **2865 words. Not as much, but satisfying. LOL, yeah… um, I kinda forgot what I was going to say… yeah… so never mind.

Hmmm. Oh, wait…

"the, uh, organic-looking… eh, **creature** (he really had no idea how to describe her)"

…That was the stupidest thing I've ever written, btw. So, um, yeah. Pay no attention whatsoever to it. And, if you haven't figured it out(though it's really obvious), yes, Garan is referring to Will Vandom. Okay? Right… review now, k?


	5. Chapter 4: Assembly

**Author's Notes: **Yahoo, boredom update. Cool, hun? OMG, I luv this fic. Need more reviews though. Seriously.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H., don't own Bionicle, Lego does. And they've created over a zillion characters and terms, none of which I own. I can't even remember all these zillion characters and terms. Sheesh, why does the storyline have to be so complicated?

"How **could** you? I've never seen such **stupidity** before! Just why? Doesn't anyone listen to me anymore? Or do you think that as Turaga, you don't need to listen to me anymore? Do you think that I'm **useless**?"

Nokama endured Turaga Dume's reproaches in bitter silence, clutching her trident a bit tighter than usual. Dume didn't like her. That much was obvious enough. If it had been any of the other Turaga, Dume just might have considered the possibility that he had been wrong.

All the other Turaga, gathered in the small room, observed in silence as Dume continued his ranting. "Don't you have any **respect** for me? Sure, you saved Metru Nui once, I'll give you **that** much, but that **doesn't** give you the right to **ignore** me!" fumed the Turaga, glaring at her from behind his mask, a Kanohi Kiril. "And on top of that-"

Vakama cut in, much to everyone's relief, since the situation was becoming increasingly awkward. "Honorable Turaga…"

Dume's glare whipped to Vakama. "Yes?" he demanded, seething, "Do you have something to say, Vakama?"

Vakama frowned. "What's done is done, honorable Turaga." he said, trying to remain as polite as possible, "Please, fighting among us isn't going to help. Instead, we should find a solution to this dilemma."

Nokama glanced at Vakama gratefully. Ironic, during their short time together as the Toa Metru, she was always the one breaking up arguments. Vakama, like most Ta-Matoran. used to be hot-headed. He'd sure come a long way since then.

A series of quick whistling and clicking came from behind her, and she, along with all the other Turaga, turned their heads to a corner of the room, where Nuju was.

The Ko-Turaga raised his ice pick and waved it around, still whistling.

Matau frowned at this. "What? You want to bad-hurt someone with ice pick?"

Onewa scoffed. "What, so there's a 'good-hurt', Matau?"

Feeling six pairs of eyes on him, he shrugged sheepishly. "Never mind. Just that, if there's a 'bad-hurt', it would only be logical for… just never mind."'

Vakama cocked an eyebrow at the Po-Turaga's behavior, but shrugged it off. "Alright. Now let's not forget the reason we're here. To discuss what we should do about the remaining Matoran, who're all demanding answers to the disappearance of Jaller and the others."

"And why shouldn't they want answers?" asked Dume harshly, "Six important Matoran went missing. We've lost our Chronicler, kolhii champion, a skilled inventor, the Ta-Metru Guard and Le-Metru Gukko Force are both missing Captains, and our friend Nuju lacks the ability to communicate with the rest of us without his translator."

Whenua turned to Nuju slowly. "But you can speak Matoran flawlessly, Nuju."

Matau rolled his green eyes slowly. "Nuju can. Nuju just too stubborn-weird to give up Rahi-tongue."

At this, the Ko-Turaga turned and attacked Matau with the flat end of his ice pick sharply.

Matau, who had been expecting a violent rebuttal of the kind, had countered with his Kau-Kau staff.

"**Stop** this nonsense!"

They directed their attention back to Dume. Nuju and Matau both lowered their tools.

Dume slammed his fist against the wall and faced them angrily. "I expected better of you! It's hard to believe that **you**, at one point, saved us all, judging from the **childish** immaturity you've just displayed!"

Taking a moment to calm down, he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before continuing, "Now, as I was saying, before you so politely interrupted, we've lost six important Matoran." He directed his attention back to Nokama. "Forgive my earlier behavior, Nokama, but you must understand that my anger was not directed at you blindly. I have overreacted, but I just wish you had consulted me before revealing the Toa Nuva's whereabouts to Jaller and the others. Now, they've disappeared as well, and we have a veritable uproar on our hands. So," he glanced at each of the other Turaga in turn, "what **should** we do?"

A long silence followed Dume's speech, each of the Turaga lost in their own personal thoughts.

Finally, Nokama stepped forward. "I may have acted out of line, honorable Turaga, but…"

Dume's eyes sparkled with interest. "Continue."

"I believe that the only option we have left is to tell the Matoran what they want to know."

Dume creased his brow at this.

Vakama stepped forwards next to her, and placed a supportive hand on Nokama's shoulder. "I agree."

Matau shrugged. "Firespitter agree, Matau agree." He nodded at Vakama.

Onewa spoke next. "Nokama's right, you know. The Matoran do have a right to know."

Whenua followed suit. "Besides, what other choice do we have?" he added.

Nuju didn't say anything. He merely clicked once and nodded.

Dume glanced uncertainly at the six other Turaga. Finally, he sighed. "Ganging up on me, eh?" Shaking his head, he consented, "Fine. I guess you do know what you're doing after all. Tell them. Tell the Matoran."

Vakama beamed triumphantly at him. "Don't worry, honorable Turaga. We won't mess this up."

&&&

Takanuva, Toa of Light, stood at his place behind the six Turaga. They were on a large stage, and the entire population of Metru Nui was before them, gazing at the Turaga expectantly. Dume was not present.

The Toa of Light held his staff loosely in one arm. The other was hanging limp by his side. He gave an encouraging wink to Vakama, who was about to speak.

The Ta-Turaga banged the end of his firestaff against the stage twice. At once, the Matoran ceased their murmuring.

Vakama sighed. "These past few days, many of you have been asking us for the whereabouts of the Toa Nuva."

A lone Ga-Matoran in the crowd raised her hand. It was Macku. "So are you going to tell us now? And where has Hahli disappeared to?"

Nokama answered. "Yes, Macku. All will be revealed. Please, just take the time to listen."

Takanuva shuffled his feet awkwardly.

Vakama continued, "When we descended back to Metru Nui, Dume told me, the other Turaga, and the Toa Nuva some… troubling news." He took a deep breath before announcing, "Mata Nui is dieing."

The clamor that followed was that of terrified, shocked Matoran, each speaking over the other. Some were outraged, others sank back and stared at the ground uncertainly. Many panicked and began bombarding the Turaga with questions. Some turned to their neighbors, uncertain of just how to react.

Takanuva understood this. It was perfectly reasonable. After all, when you hear that the Great Spirit that has been protecting you for about forever is endangered, panic is the only logical reaction.

One of the Matoran shouted out over the other voices, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Onewa scanned the crowd for the speaker. He didn't find him, so he answered without making eye-contact with the Matoran. "We were afraid that you would react like this. We didn't want you to worry."

A Le-Matoran started jumping up and down. "But we should knowledge-have! How we do anything if no knowledge-have?"

Vakama glanced at him sadly. "Yes, you should know. But ignorance is bliss. How does this knowledge help you?"

A bold Ta-Matoran standing in the front row of the assembly ran forwards and, with some effort, heaved himself onto the stage, much to the surprise of everyone present. He stood in front of Vakama and confronted him. "I get why you didn't tell us earlier! You didn't think that we would have been able to do **anything** about it even if we knew! Is that it?"

Takanuva frowned when Vakama didn't answer. The Matoran was right.

Not receiving an answer only made the Ta-Matoran angrier. "Don't you trust us? We **can** make a difference, if only a small one! Besides, even if we **do** fail, then we'll die knowing we tried!"

Nokama startled him by smiling at him. "That's exactly what Jaller said."

The Ta-Matoran lowered his head. "Hmm. Well, I mean, there is a way to save Mata Nui, isn't there? Because… if there isn't, then everything I said would be null and void and you have my humble apologies, honorable Turaga."

"There is."

The Ta-Matoran lifted his head and his eyes met Vakama's.

Vakama smiled at him as well, then turned away form his to address the entire population of Metru Nui. "There is a way to save Metru Nui. Now, everything depends on the Ignika, Kanohi Mask of Life."

The Matoran widened their eyes in awe at the mention of the legendary Kanohi.

"The Toa Nuva have left to the island of Voya Nui in search of this Kanohi."

Macku's hand shot up into the air once again. "And Hahli, Hewkii, and the other Matoran? Have they gone there as well?"

Nokama nodded at her. "Yes, Macku. They found out about Mata Nui before you, and Jaller, feeling they were obliged to aid the Toa Nuva, rounded them all up and they left for Voya Nui."

Hafu, a Po-Matoran raised his hand. "But… if they feel they can help Mata Nui, then so can we."

Matau answered, "Yes. Carver have good think-logic."

Nuju clicked in agreement.

Hafu lowered his hand and blended back into the crowd.

The Ta-Matoran, still on the stage with the Turaga and Takanuva, said, "The Po-Matoran's right. I agree with him one hundred percent. Can't we help find this mask? I'm sure we can do something useful."

Vakama smiled. "Indeed. That's why we're telling you this now. Not because you pressured us to, but because we've decided that it's time you knew the truth, and made your own decisions concerning it. And I have to admit, I'm proud of your decisions thus far."

The Ta-Matoran scratched the back of his head sheepishly. All of his previous anger had long since evaporated.

"What did you say your name was again?"

"Oh, erm…" he stammered, "I'm Keahi."

Vakama shifted his firestaff to his left hand, so he was free to pat Keahi on the back amiably with his right hand. Finally resting his hand on the Ta-Matoran's shoulder, he raised his staff with his other hand, and declared, "Keahi has made his decision clear! He wishes to aid in the search for the Ignika! Now, what will the rest of you do?"

The Matoran started murmuring among themselves again.

Whenua stepped forwards, and for the first time during that assembly, spoke. "Don't worry; you have plenty of time to think it over. Just make sure that whatever you choose, it's a decision **you** made yourselves. We're not forcing this on you. We're not pressuring you. Do what you believe to be right."

Next to him, Nuju clicked.

&&&

Macku sighed. Lying in her boat, which was drifting in a lake of liquid protodermis, she thought of the assembly the Turaga had just called, and wondered why Dume didn't attend. She quickly forgot about that though. "_Don't worry; you have plenty of time to think it over. Just make sure that whatever you choose, it's a decision you made yourselves. We're not forcing this on you. We're not pressuring you. Do what you believe to be right," he says. Hen, great. _

Just what was she going to do? The Ignika… and what would they do with it if they did manage to retrieve it? Would it really save Mata Nui? Or was it all just a waste of time? _No… I can't think like that. _

Hahli, her best friend and fellow kolhii player had gone. And so had Hewkii. A wave of anger came across her as she thought, _Hey! Both Hahli and Hewkii left **without** me. They didn't even bother to leave a note. I mean, I understand that the Turaga had them sworn to secrecy or whatever, but still! Hahli and I never hid things from each other. And to think that Hewkii… _

Macku had been hanging out with Hewkii for what seemed like forever. Over time, they had grown to be quite fond of each other.

Her anger dissipated. _Oh well. They had me worried sick, but I suppose that the top priority here is Mata Nui. _

She moved to a sitting position, and noted that she had drifted farther away from solid ground than she had thought. _Must have lost track of time. _Her hand moved to her right in search of… oh no.

"I forgot my paddle!"

Great. This day couldn't get any better. Now, she stood up and looked around her frantically, weighing her options.

She could always abandon ship and swim back. But then she might never see her boat again. Not to mention that this was the boat that Hewkii, despite not being the best crafter in Po-Metru, had made for her with his bare hands.

"No, no, no, no, no… I'm so stupid! How could I forget my paddle? What kind of idiot forgets her paddle?" Waving her arms around in exasperation, she almost fell off the boat, but grabbed onto it just in time to retrieve her balance.

"Need help, Macku?"

Macku turned to find Kotu, a fellow Ga-Matoran, in a boat approaching her.

She grinned. "Hey Kotu. Um… I am a bit stranded here…"

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"I forgot my paddle." she said lamely.

Kotu giggled a bit, before bending down and handed Macku a spare paddle. "It's not the best quality, but it'll work."

Macku took the paddle from Kotu's outstretch hand, a tad embarrassed. "Um, thanks a lot. You're a real lifesaver."

Kotu winked. "No prob, Macku. Well, I'll be seeing you!" She turned her boat and started to leave, but Macku stopped her.

"Wait!" Seeing Kotu turn back and look at her curiously, she asked, "Um, about that assembly today… what are you going to do?"

Kotu stopped smiling and looked up. "You see the clear blue sky today? All that will be no more if Mata Nui dies." She shrugged. "I'm going to prevent that the best I can. I might no be able to do much, but if the Toa Nuva call upon me for help, I'll help." She looked back at Macku and smirked wryly. "Keahi's right. And most of the other Matoran whom I've talked to say the same thing."

She turned her boat around and left, avoiding any further questions form Macku, who stared at her retreating figure pensively. _So Kotu's supporting this cause too. Seems all my friends are leaving for this Mask of Life… I'd be a fool to not go._

**Author's Notes: **…So you're probably lost now. Cool. So am I. XD LOL, k, k, but really. I know what you're wondering: 'WTH does this chapter have to do with the overall fic?' The answer is: Not much. I just needed to update. And no, this chappie isn't **completely** pointless, gawd no. Bear with me here. I know what I'm doing. Kinda.

And yes, the Guardians are once again absent from the friggen chappie. I know, I know. Calm down. I need these fillers; since Bionicle created so many characters it's hard for me to fit everything in here. So yeah. Plus I'm having trouble writing the next chappie, so boo.

Right, that's just about all I have to say. you can leave a review now. Or not. Whatever.


	6. Chapter 5: Inika

**Author's Notes: **…Well this is rich. I've got **three** people who actually review (thx, btw), two of which are **utterly** confused and have no idea what's going on(:-/ …Not that I don't appreciate the fact that you're reading, but it'd be nice to have reviewers who actually get what's going on). Oh boy. But what can I do about it? Never expected too many readers in the first place. …But still. Like **three**? O.o

Yeah, okay… anyhow, I realize it's been some time since I last updated… yeah. Whatever.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Bionicle. I could include a nice long rant about it, but I don't think you'd want to hear it.

Jaller slammed his hand against the stone table. "Where is Garan?" he asked, not really expecting an answer from the three other Toa and five Matoran present. "He was supposed to have been here a half hour ago, at the very least."

Piruk rubbed his claws together, creating a high-pitched screeching voice that made everyone except Jaller wince. "Maybe we could go looking for him. The storm has subsided." he proposed.

Kazi frowned. "And risk losing someone else?"

Balta shrugged. "Well, do you have a better idea?"

Kazi didn't answer, instead turned his attention to Jaller.

The Toa Inika of Fire sighed. "Piruk has a point… but so does Kazi, for that matter."

Hewkii frowned and rested his arms on the table. "Wow, that helps, Jaller." he said sarcastically.

Jaller shook his head. "I'm just evaluating the situation, Hewkii. Do **you** have any ideas?"

Dalu looked at Piruk. "Well, you yourself said that the storm has subsided. Garan probably just got lost in the blizzard. He should be able to find his way back now… right?"

Jaller let out a frustrated cry and collapsed onto the table. "That's** if** he got lost. You're making assumptions, Dalu." he replied, his voice muffled.

Hewkii stepped forwards and placed a hand on Jaller's shoulder. "Personally, I think that we should go look for him. That's better than just sitting here, isn't it?"

Matoro, who was sitting on a small stool in the corner shrugged. "I guess so, Hewkii. You want to go?"

Jaller looked up at the Toa of Ice. "Wait, you think we could get Kongu to go find him telepathically?"

Balta looked down at his feet. "Kongu? I don't think that's such a good idea. Kongu has a tendency to find out more that he intends to with that out-of-control mask of his."

Hewkii raised an eyebrow at Balta. "Does he?"

The Ta-Matoran scoffed. "Yeah."

_Okay, **why** Matoran-friends and Toa-brothers talking about Kongu?_ The Toa Inika of Air's voice resonated in everyone's mind. He didn't sound pleased at all. Balta winced.

Jaller waved it off. _Nevermind that, Kongu. Where is-_

_Garan?_ Kongu finished his sentence for him.

Leaning down, Hewkii whispered in Balta's ear, "Maybe he does learn more than he's supposed to…" The Toa of Earth knew Kongu would intercept his message though.

Surprisingly enough, Kongu didn't react to Hewkii's comment. _Forget Garan-friend for now. More important thing Kongu must tell._

&&&

Judging from the voices, Cornelia concluded that there were now two beings on the other side of the stone wall, and they weren't getting along too well.

The sound of Zamors colliding with her wall began again. One of the spheres flew past her head. _Like **what** are they doing?_

With a wave of her hand, the stone wall fell over… on the Piraka.

"Argh!"

Turning to face them, she found that the wall was being held off the ground. The two Piraka were struggling to keep it up and thus avoid being crushed.

Her satisfaction dissipated when Reidak drilled his way through the rock while Avak pummeled it with his jackhammer. Within seconds, the wall had collapsed into smaller pieces, and both Piraka were standing there, undamaged.

Cornelia finally got a good look at Reidak. He had the same general basic body structure as Avak, except he was black with golden armor where Avak had silver armor. He had an evil look on his face. His most distinguishing feature, in Cornelia's opinion, was his third eye, placed on his forehead. He had clawed feet, unlike Avak, who possessed flat ones with two long toes. His dual weapon consisted of a buzzsaw with a drill on the other end.

The Earth Guardian glared at them. She still had no idea what they wanted with her, or even who they were. She wasn't the one who had initiated the fight.

Reidak took her glare with a harsh laugh, which sounded more like a cough to her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself! Is shooting at strangers some sort of tradition on this planet?"

Avak smirked. "Maybe. It is for me anyways."

Reidak scowled at him. "Who said you could talk?"

The Stone Piraka fell silent. He lowered his head and crossed his arms like a sulking six-year old who had just been reproached by his parents. He muttered something inaudible, which Reidak didn't ignore. The Earth Piraka purposely stepped on Avak's foot, causing his to draw back his leg.

"Oh, sorry, did I do that?" sniggered Reidak, apparently finding the situation amusing.

Avak responded by smacking Reidak's chin with his Zamor Sphere Launcher.

Reidak staggered back, clutching his face. "Owowowowow, that was uncalled for!" he exclaimed. Jumping on the other Piraka blindly, he initiated a wrestling match.

Cornelia just watched them wide-eyed and confused. In the space of a second, both Piraka had forgotten her to wrestle each other. "Okay…" And she sure didn't like being ignored, even though her being noticed would result in her being blasted or something of the sort.

Reidak pinned down his opponent and tried to stick his drill into Avak's eye. The other Piraka moved his head just it time and wriggled his right arm free. He smacked Reidak with his jackhammer in an attempt to get the big brute off him.

Cornelia observed their battle uncertainly. One moment, Avak would gain the upper hand, but Reidak was a stubborn one and would smack him down again. The tall blonde stood there, trying to make a decision. _Wait and see who wins, or run away while I have the chance? These two make no sense whatsoever…_

&&&

Hahli nodded uncertainly. She was just lost now. "Wait, wait, backtrack here. Wasn't Cedric the snake guy?"

"Yeah, but then the Oracle guy went and took his powers and sent him to Earth for 'rehabilitation'."

"Oh. Okay." She shrugged.

_Hahli!_

He jumped to her feet. _Kongu?_

_Yes! Quick-find Hakann! Hakann-oh. Water guardian with you?_

_Uh… _Hahli frowned. Kongu could get annoying with his 'you-can't-hide-anything-from-me-anymore' attitude. She was sure she wasn't the only one who thought Kongu was better off without that mask. Yeah, it was useful, but there were times when people just wanted to chuck Kongu off a cliff.

…_Kongu not go chuck off high-cliff._

Irma meanwhile, was waving at Hahli. "Hello? You still with me?"

"Uh, yeah. It's just that Kongu-you know who Kongu is, right?"

The Water guardian thought for a moment. "Oh wait!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. "He's that weird telepathic guy you told me about, right?"

…_What Hahli tell Guardian? _reproached Kongu, sounding really hurt.

_Sorry, Kongu. But what were you saying about Hakann?_

_Oh, Hakann-bully got Fire Guardian! _said Kongu, getting back on topic. _On Valmai._

Irma's eyes widened when Hahli repeated Kongu's message. "One of those Piraka got Tara? Oh man…"

&&&

Will didn't really understand what was happening. But when the bigger guy with the menacing expression, Thok, attacked the smaller angry guy, Garan, she just knew she had to interfere.

Blasting him into a snow bank had protected the Matoran, who was by then staring at her in awe, from danger.

Thok had clambered back onto his feet with noteworthy speed. "Why you-! Ahh!" He then flipped over the weapon he was holding. "You want to fight? Fine!"

When he pronounced those words, Will knew she was in for it. _Wow, not even an hour on this planet, and you've already made enemies. Great social skills, Will._

The tip of his ice gun began glowing a faint blue. She prepared herself to counter the laser that she knew would be coming out of the ice gun at any moment now.

Just as he was about to fire, a black blur tackled him, causing him to aim and blast the ground. Garan.

"Argh! Get **off **me, puny Matoran!" he screamed. Smacking the Matoran, who was clutching onto his right arm with the Zamor Sphere Launcher, he cursed. He could have easily fired a Zamor at Garan, but if the Matoran had the reflexes to let go, he would have just ended up shooting himself, which he really didn't want to do.

Garan held on, his eyes clenched shut. He couldn't, mustn't let go. Willpower. That was just about the only weapon he had against these Piraka, and he wasn't about to lose it.

It wasn't enough though. Thok jerked his arm so sharply; he almost dislocated it, but also sent Garan flying off his arm. The Onu-Matoran landed on his back, right in front of the Piraka.

"Hey, you leave him alone!"

Thok lifted his head to Will. He sneered. "Or you'll do what exactly?" He kicked at the Onu-Matoran. "I'm the boss over here."

Garan cried out suddenly, startling both Will and the Piraka. "Kongu!"

Thok lowered his gaze to the dazed Matoran. "What? Did I give you a concussion or something?"

Will blinked. "Kongu? Who-What is that?"

Garan didn't answer. He just sat there, staring into space with his yellow-green eyes. He wasn't yanked out of his absent state until Thok kicked him again.

"Oof!" he grunted as he fell back. He was fully covered in snow by then, and looked somewhat like a cross between an Onu and a Ko-Matoran. But it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest as he muttered, "What are you doing, Kongu?"

The Keeper of the Heart was more than confused. _Okay. So… this guy I met a short while ago is being beaten up by some other guy, and he's talking to thin air. Right. Man, I hate adapting to new dimensions… _

&&&

Hahli felt her Kanohi jabbing as she approached Mount Valmai. _Okay, okay, I get it… _The volcano towered before her. It was an impressive figure, and looked like it was about to erupt at any given moment. She stepped on a rock and pushed off it.

Shortly behind her, Irma was trying to keep up. "Slow down, would you? We're not running a marathon here!"

The Toa Inika sighed and slowed to a slight jog while she waited for the Water Guardian to catch up. "Come on! What's taking?"

A distant voice laughed. "What's the matter? Ha! That'll teach you to mess with Hakann!"

The last word caught her attention, and she darted off again, leaving Irma struggling to negotiate a pile of rocks on her own.

She arrived at the scene. Hakann and the Fire Guardian were at some sort of standoff, except Hakann was laughing in glee and Taranee was doubled over, clutching her head.

Hahli pointed her weapon at the unaware Piraka and aimed. Wasn't that hard, since Hakann was just standing still. As she pulled the trigger, a green laser originating from the tip of her Hydro Harpoon hit Hakann's shoulder, sending him scrawling on the volcanic ground, and interrupting his mental blast, giving Taranee some time to breath.

The Piraka glared at her with hatred. "Toa!"

She didn't answer, just aimed another laser at Hakann, who had the reflexes to roll to his left, thus avoiding a well aimed blast which would have hit his head. The Piraka got lucky and found himself lying right next to the lava stream he had spotted a while ago. He reached and dipped his dual weapon in it, sniggering.

Hahli meanwhile had shot another charge at Hakann. The Piraka finished his reloading and got up in time to dodge.

"Hey, Hahli, would it really have killed you to wait another minute?"

Irma had caught up, and was glaring at her disapproving. The Water Guardian quickly spotted Taranee, and instantly forgot Hahli and rushed to her friend's side. "Tara!"

Hahli heard a fizzing noise and felt her mask tugging at her face. She moved her Hydro Harpoon in front of her head just in time to block a blast of molten lava. Another half-second and she would have been done for. The Kanohi Elda sure was useful in these situations.

Hakann growled at her and raised his weapon again. He never got the chance to shoot though, as at that moment a sudden gust of unnatural wind picked up and swiped the Piraka clean off his feet.

&&&

Thok snarled at the Onu-Matoran. "Quit talking to yourself!"

Garan chose that moment to snap out of it. He looked up and smiled ever so slightly, making the Ice Piraka suspicious. "I'm not talking to myself. And you're in trouble."

The Piraka widened his eyes. "How so?" Thok reasoned with himself that the Matoran was most likely just bluffing, but there was still that tiny chance that he wasn't. And he seemed so sure of himself. His voice was brimming with confidence.

Garan's smile widened. "Turn around, Piraka." he said, with something that resembled mockery in his voice.

Thok hesitated for a brief moment before he turned on himself slowly. He almost regretted the action, for two Toa were facing him.

The first one was a Toa of Ice, with his white and pale blue complexion. He wore silver armor, and a silver sword was planted in the ground next to him. He held a Zamor Sphere Launcher, much like the one Thok owned, but upgraded. His had the capacity to hold more Zamors at once.

The other one, standing to the right of the first, was a Fire Toa, red and orange with gold armor. He also had a sword, except he was holding his and his was gold and jagged in a fashion that resembled flames. His left arm dangled limply by his side, a golden Zamor Sphere Launcher in hand.

The first one spoke. "Thok, I take it?"

The Piraka tensed. A Matoran was easy picking, but Toa were a different story. "That's my name. What do you want?"

The other Toa answered. "We want our Resistance Leader back, if you don't mind. Oh, not to mention, we also want you and your fellow **Piraka**, as you seem to like to call yourselves, **off** this island."

Thok chuckled nervously. "Well, then we might have a bit of a problem on our hands, gentlemen, because we have no intention of leaving any time soon. But, answer this other question for me: Are you in any way related to the other group of Toa who had arrived here a while ago?"

The Fire Toa clutched his sword tighter, whilst the Ice Toa widened his eyes and took a step back.

"I'll take that as a yes."

&&&

Toa Inika Nuparu loved to fly. It was a new sensation for him, but he enjoyed every moment of it. He could understand why Kongu envied him. He allowed himself a small smile when he spotted Hewkii. He was struggling to keep up with Nuparu. But of course the Earth Toa was faster; he was flying.

They entered jungle territory, and Hewkii was soon concealed from Nuparu's view by the tall abundant, not to mention diverse, plant life in the region. There was no doubt in his mind that Hewkii saw him though. It was hard to not see a flying Toa of Earth.

Nuparu got there first. There on the middle of the plateau, two Piraka were wrestling each other whilst another figure stood there, slightly confused.

The Toa Inika smiled to himself as he slowly descended. The Piraka ignored him as he lost altitude. It was only when he had landed that Avak, who was pinned to the floor by Reidak, pointed at him and shouted, "Hey, it's a Toa!"

Nuparu smirked. "Yeah, and where do your ugly faces come from?"

Insulted, Avak pushed Reidak off. "You're one to talk, with that mask covering your face!"

He fingered his Laser Drill, frowning. "What, are you jealous because you can't fly? Well I'm sorry."

Reidak sniggered. "Can I break him? It's been a while since I've broken anything."

"Can it." countered Avak, crossing his arms. "You tend to break the important stuff."

Reidak snarled.

Nuparu shook his head. "Why don't both of you shut up?"

Avak took a step towards him and his eyes began to glow a dangerous looking red.

"Whoa, don't start without me, Nuparu!"

**Author's Notes: **(poking Kongu set) …Why the hell is his chest armor two different colours? Not to mention the feet. Meh, whatever. Just that I swear it's not supposed to be like that. But sure. It's kinda cool looking, if a bit weird.

ANYWAYS, I'm actually thinking of dropping this fic, both cuz of lack of inspiration, and lack of support. But I'm not too sure yet. I just might change my mind. Heck, I'm never sure about anything. :P


	7. Chapter 6: Captives

**Author's Notes: **…Christmas vacation's only half-over, yet I'm already feeling the dreaded grasp of exams. Ugh. I actually cracked open my science binder today, and was dismayed to find that I didn't get anything. Oh boy.

So… yeah. Still thinking of dropping this, but I already had this chapter half-written, and decided to finish it out of lack of anything better to do. Hey, it was already half-done, so might as well, huh?

**Disclaimer:** Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Bionicle.

Toa Kopaka Nuva peered out from behind the energized antidermis bars of the cell he and his fellow Toa Nuva shared. A most curious usage of antidermis, to be sure, and it was something Avak thought up only a few days ago.

Kopaka scowled at the sneering blue and gold Titan, Brutaka, who seemed to find it amusing. A bit further back, Zaktan was sitting on a chair and leaning on a table, engraving something Kopaka couldn't see into it. Zaktan paid no attention to the Toa.

Behind him, Kopaka heard the voices of the other Toa Nuva as they quietly discussed. He caught a few words.

"Tahu, we're weak… stand a chance… wouldn't make it far…" said Onua.

Tahu snapped back at him. "Well, would you rather we sit here and do nothing?" he flared.

Pohatu sighed and held him back, and Gali tried to calm him down.

"Tahu, please, don't blame Onua, he speaks the truth."

The Fire Toa muttered something Kopaka didn't catch.

The Toa of Ice squinted at Brutaka before turning around and walking back to join the other Toa. "Tahu! Where do you get off being so reckless?"

The other Toa glared back at him. "Oh, so now all of a sudden you **care** about what we're saying? Why don't you go back into your little corner and **stare** at Brutaka, Kopaka? You seem to be spending a lot of time doing that lately!"

Kopaka was taken aback for a moment, but he wasn't going to let Tahu better him. _Hotheaded idiot… _"What are you implying, Tahu? It's not like **you**'ve found **some** way to get us **out** of here!"

Tahu shook off Gali who had grabbed his arm, afraid that he would try something he might later regret. "Well, at least **I'm** trying! You're just staring at the enemy! And I **have** formulated a plan! Just that **Onua** here won't agree with me!"

The Earth Toa blinked a few times. "But-"

"My, my, not planning an escape, are we?"

Kopaka, along with the other Toa, turned around to find Brutaka sniggering at them. They had also attracted unwanted attention from Zaktan, who had paused his writing on the table to raise an interested eyebrow at them. The Piraka looked puzzled.

The Titan, however, was just laughing at them.

Kopaka frowned disapprovingly at this. He didn't like being laughed at; no one did. Except this time, he wasn't in any situation to object. Instead, he turned his back and retreated to one of the far corners of the room and sat down.

Tahu had followed his every movement. The Toa of Ice gazed at him coolly with calm pale blue eyes, challenging him to say something first. He almost managed to, as Tahu took a step towards him and opened his mouth to retort, when Gali put her hand on his shoulder. "Tahu. Now's not the time for this. You can sort out your differences **later**."

He hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly stepped back. Dismissing Kopaka from him mind, he walked over to rejoin his brothers and started to talk to Onua in a low tone.

Gali, relived that Tahu had actually listened to her, then turned to Kopaka. "I really wouldn't get on his nerves if I were you. He's been… different lately."

Kopaka shook his head. "Of course. We're being **caged** like Rahi, Gali."

"…You don't think he'll… nevermind."

Kopaka wouldn't let her off the hook so easily though. "What? What were you going to say?"

"Just… when you mentioned Rahi, it made me think of Vakama and, well, what happened to him. You don't think Tahu's… losing it, do you?" she asked uncertainly, her deep yellow eyes filled with concern.

_Concern for **him**. _Kopaka sank within his shell, giving her a hard, cold stare before looking the opposite direction, not answering her question.

If Gali was hurt or discontented in any way, she didn't comment about it. She stalked away silently, leaving Kopaka alone in his corner. Alone. He always seemed to end up alone. Maybe it was his fault for pushing everyone away. A part of him had hoped Gali would have stayed with him. He shook away the thought. _Whatever._

&&&

Onua shrank back uncertainly from the fuming Tahu. The Toa of Fire slumped down against the wall and grunted. His vibrant red eyes glared at no one in particular. Onua's gaze dropped to the ground until Gali rejoined them.

Tahu then spoke. "So, Onua, if you won't tunnel us out of here, what do you propose we do?" The Toa of Earth could see that their leader was struggling to remain calm. He had a dangerous edge in his voice.

Onua hesitated before saying, "Well, Tahu, I… I'm not really sure, but trying to tunnel out of here isn't… the **brightest** idea you've ever had. No offense, really, just that-"

"So you're on Kopaka's side?"

Onua winced and his gaze momentarily strayed to the Ice Toa, sitting in a corner staring at the wall. "Well, no Tahu-"

"What then?" Tahu spat. Then, he shook his head. "Never mind Onua. You don't have to pretend to agree with me or anything." He turned to the other Toa, who were visibly as uncomfortable as Onua. "And you guys?"

Lewa chuckled sheepishly. "Well, firespitter understand if Toa-hero Lewa quickspeed disagree… right?"

Pohatu nudged him roughly. "Idiot…"

Lewa protested. "Lewa only truthsay! Pohatu-friend doesn't need to hit-hurt!"

Tahu sighed miserably and turned to Gali, who was standing over his shoulder. "You?"

The Toa of Water seemed uneasy and hesitated, trying to find some way to word what she was really thinking. "Tahu, you have to understand-"

Tahu cut her off by standing up abruptly. "I understand. Side with Kopaka, will you? Fine."

The Toa of Earth fidgeted. "Tahu, look, your plan seems a bit… inefficient."

The Toa of Fire spun around vividly. "**Inefficient**? Why don't you just say it, Onua? My plan seems **stupid** to you!"

"Well, when you calculatethink of riskdanger then, yeah, firespitter's plan badstupid."

"Lewa!" Pohatu groaned, exasperated.

The Toa of Air shrugged. "Lewa truthsay."

&&&

Zaktan frowned at the Toa, five of whom were arguing quietly in a corner, and the Toa of Ice was muttering quietly to himself in the opposite corner.

The Air Piraka had always found their behavior strange. How the Ice Piraka always seemed isolated reminded him of Thok. He wondered where he'd run off to. All the other Piraka seemed to have disappeared somewhere.

He turned back to the table, on which words written in the Matoran tongue could be seen. He fingered the sharp rock in his hand for a moment, before using it to cross out everything he had written. _Like that would ever work._

Brutaka laughed harshly. Zaktan snarled. He didn't like the Titan, but he had offered to help them. He didn't like any of the other Piraka either, for that matter, but he tolerated them. To a certain extent, anyways.

&&&

Gali sighed. Lewa was so childish sometimes. Still, he did have a point, though she wished he wouldn't say it in such a hurtful way.

She was reminded of Brutaka's presence when he laughed. It sounded more like he was choking, but she'd gotten used to hearing that sound. Brutaka watched them night and day, most of the time accompanied with one of the Piraka. But he was always there, not as a jailer, but for his own entertainment. She felt his eyes on the back of her head, and did her best to ignore him.

"Leave Lewa alone, Pohatu! He's telling me the truth, and that's what I want to hear. Not these sugar-coated words of comfort you all give me!" raged Tahu, swinging his arms around wildly for emphasis.

Lewa crossed his arms smugly.

Kopaka's voice, icy cold, reached them. "What is it, Tahu? You think you could scream any louder?"

The Toa of Water flinched. "Tahu, don't listen to him…" she muttered.

The Toa of Fire didn't react to her comment, however, and simply leaned on the wall, staring at Kopaka. "Maybe."

Brutaka prevented what might have been a heated fight between the two by cutting in. "Hey! What's your name? Yeah, you there, the red one."

Tahu narrowed his eyes. "What's it to you?"

"You're fun to watch. The way you walk around arguing with the white one." answered the Titan.

"But he's stubborn too."

Vezok was standing at the doorway, an angry expression on his face. "I've been taking a walk when a Toa of Earth **flew** overhead. So I came here. Now, **Tahu**," he pronounced his name with such contempt, "I hope you have some answers for me."

Zaktan stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair. "What are you talking about, Vezok? Earth Toa don't **fly**!" he spat. "You've gone mad! Just like Vezon!"

Vezok's normally blue complexion turned into a faint shade of red. "Don't. You. Ever. Mention. Vezon. Again." he growled dangerously between gritted teeth.

Zaktan growled right back at him. "Why not? You jealous of Vezon because he's smarter than you?"

"That's **my** intelligence!"

"Well it's **Vezon**'s now!"

"I told you to **never** mention **him** again!"

"Why should **I** listen to **you**?"

"Argh!" Vezon pounced on Zaktan, who exploded into billion of tiny green microbes. The Water Piraka caught nothing, as the protodites easily evaded him and instead he crashed face first into a wall. Behind him, the green protodites slowly fused together to form Zaktan's familiar form once more. The Air Piraka was laughing hysterically.

"Too slow, Vezok." he taunted.

&&&

The Titan was amused. And why wouldn't he be, with the entertainment provided by both the captive Toa and the enraged Piraka. But after a couple of minutes, even the snarling Piraka grew boring.

He stepped forward and placed a powerful hand on Vezok's weapon wielding arm, preventing him from striking Zaktan, whilst his other arm was placed in front of Zaktan to act as a barrier. "Stop fighting. This flying Earth Toa sounds most interesting. I want to hear about him."

Zaktan reluctantly backed down as Vezok's breathing slowed and eventually became steady and even.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Toa Nuva leaning forwards to hear the Water Piraka.

"Yeah, well, he **was** flying. Dark armor, just like that of a typical Onu-Toa. He had a Zamor Sphere Launcher hoisted on his shoulder. Don't ask me where he got it though, but it's certainly more advanced than the ones we have." He looked down at his Zamor Launcher, disgusted. "I should get Avak to build new ones," he muttered to himself.

"That all you have to say?" asked Brutaka.

"No, no. He was… taller than the Toa Nuva. Impressive actually. I bet he's strong enough to take Reidak on." he said with a sneer.

Zaktan growled. "Just who's side are you on?"

Vezok laughed. "Your's, of course. It was just a remark. Anyways, he had this really ugly looking mask on. He had a heavy looking weapon too. Makes the ones Avak built us look like toothpicks," he commented.

Brutaka smacked him over the back of his head. "Shut up about Avak, idiot. You're supposed to be talking about the Earth Toa. Did you get his name?"

"No, but he was looking down and said, 'You see anything Hewkii?'. I think he was talking to a companion or something of his."

&&&

From behind the threatening antidermis bars, Pohatu reeled back in shock. The other Toa Nuva turned to him, confused. _Hewkii… what in Mata Nui is he doing here?_

Onua frowned. "You okay, Pohatu? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

The Toa of Stone smiled nervously. "The Piraka did say Hewkii, right?" he asked, hoping he had heard wrong.

Onua averted his gaze. "Yes… and the chances of there being another Hewkii are very slim. It's your Kohlii Champion, Pohatu."

Kopaka walked over to them, shaking his head. "The Turaga told us that they wouldn't tell any of the Matoran that we were gone."

Gali shrugged. "On the other hand, they also said that they wouldn't tell us about Metru Nui, but they ended up doing so anyways. It's quite possible that everyone knows."

Pohatu nodded absently as Gali's words sunk in. It just might be a good thing if everyone knew. It meant that they could get help from the Matoran and this mysterious Earth Toa. Suddenly, things didn't look so bleak anymore.

**Author's Notes: **I give up trying to get you guys to review. No one listens to my pleading ANs anyhow. So yeah… but thanks to you guys who bothered to R&R. Mmhmm. ;)


	8. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: **Can't believe I didn't drop this yet, LOL. So… yeah. Got bored one day(my internet died… AGAIN) and started writing this. So here you have it… if anyone's still reading. (cough)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Bionicle, or W.I.T.C.H. Meh.

Kongu widened his eyes as the ease with which Hay Lin controlled the air. He could feel it shifting. She didn't force the element; it just bent to her will. The Toa of Air shook his head, smiling. Never would he be able to do it so easily. He doubted even Lewa could. …Okay, then again, **maybe** the Toa Nuva would be able too. Lewa was really good, and experienced.

The Fire Piraka got back to his feet angrily, and Kongu laughed. Hakann was surrounded at all sides. The Piraka sure was in trouble. He growled and aimed at the small elevated mound of earth which could be considered a small hill on which he and Hay Lin were standing. Kongu didn't worry, only smiled. The Piraka was open for an attack from Hahli, and he knew the Toa Inika of Water wasn't going to miss her chance.

Sure enough, she didn't, and the Hydro Harpoon struck the Piraka on his back. If he hadn't reeled back in pain, the weapon would have sliced him in half. Except he did reel back.

Hahli twirled her weapon around and came at the Piraka again, nicking his arm. The Piraka didn't look very happy. He growled anxiously. "Confound you Toa, running around heroically!" he spat, before turning and, well, running away.

Kongu was almost surprised at the fact that the Piraka had given up so easily. **Almost**. He cocked his Laser crossbow and shot at him. He missed though. The Piraka darted away with remarkable speed, and shot a few Zamors over his back to discourage anyone from following him.

Kongu smiled and turned to Hahli. "Hey there. What say you we rapidquick go to basecamp?"

&&&

It was over within seconds. Jaller heated everything up, while Matoro came at Thok with his blade. The Ice Piraka didn't stick around and fled. Will, confused, stood there with Garan, who was sitting in the snow wide-eyed.

Jaller's blade began glowing and he ran after the Piraka, despite Matoro's shouts at him to wait. The Toa of Ice sighed, then turned towards Will and Garan. The Guardian immediately raised her arms in front of her in defense.

Matoro cocked his head as if studying her. "Will, is it?" he asked finally.

The redhead frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"Kongu told me… he told me a lot, actually. Interesting to know about the existence of – what were you called again? – **humans**." He played with the last word, putting emphasize on it. It was foreign to him. He smiled down at the Matoran. "Nice to know you're safe, Garan. Now, Kongu said we should go back to the base."

The Onu-Matoran frowned. "But what about Jaller?"

Matoro shrugged. "He can take care of himself."

&&&

Brutaka had gone out to look for the flying Earth Toa Vezok had reported seeing. Sure, poking at the Toa Nuva was fun, but a **flying** Earth Toa. That would be far more interesting.

He wasn't too hard to find, for the sounds of their struggle were loud. He emerged into the clearing to see Reidak and Avak each struggling with a Toa and another being standing nearby with an uncertain look on her face.

He grunted and stuck one of his blades into the ground, to attract attention. He got it. All heads spun around to glance at him, and none looked particularly happy to see him. Actually, they looked scared.

Brutaka smirked. "What is it? No one wants to greet the great Brutaka?"

The Toa of Earth paled, which was kind of weird, considering his black colour scheme. He quickly grabbed Hewkii's arm and darted to Cornelia. He hoisted the protesting Guardian onto his back and took off.

Brutaka stood there stupidly for a full half minute before he blinked and said, "Well waddaya know? Vezok was right for once. He **can** fly."

&&&

Cornelia was scared. She just got attacked, supposed saved, but then her saviors turned against her and kidnapped her. In her panic, she made a vine from the forest down below shoot up and grab Hewkii's leg.

The Toa of Stone yelped to his companion who was holding him by his arm. "Ahhh! Don't drop me, Nuparu! I'm being attacked by a psycho plant!"

Nuparu looked over his shoulder. "I think I know why," he declared sarcastically. "If it would please you to release my friend?"

Confused, Cornelia complied and the Toa of Earth gave her a smile.

Hewkii chuckled nervously as the plant let go. "Interesting… can you do that, Nuparu?"

The Toa of Earth shook his head. "Can you make a Rahi obey you? Plants are living things you know. I can't control them."

Hewkii shrugged. "It'd be cool though. But still, if you can't, how come she can?" He motioned to Cornelia with a jerk of his head. "I mean, she's the **Earth** guardian, and you're the Toa of **Earth**."

Nuparu sighed. "Ask her."

Throughout this whole exchange, Cornelia was beginning to feel more and more freaked out. "How do you know so much about me?" she asked, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"Don't move around so much; you'll fall off and I'm not sure I'll be able to catch you," cautioned the Toa of Earth with slight irritancy.

The Toa of Stone didn't answer her question either, instead asking one of his own: "How come you're able to control plants but Nuparu can't?" He cocked his head to one side as he said this, making him look like a curious child and somewhat diminished the frightening effect his jagged mask had on her.

Nuparu frowned. "Why does everyone like to talk about things I **can't** do?"

"What are you talking about, Nuparu? Kongu likes to rant about your Kadin, you know that."

Nuparu shook his head and turned back to the Earth Guardian. "Anyhow, to answer your question, Kongu told us."

"Who?"

&&&

Jaller followed the Ice Piraka from a distance throughout half the island. He was tired and panting by the time they reached their destination. The Piraka Stronghold.

There were stairs leading up to a gate in the shape of Vezok's monstrous head, with long sharp teeth acting as barricades. Vezok's spine acted like a bridge which crossed a river of lava. Jaller was comfortable with the heat, being a Toa of Fire, but Thok visibly wasn't. The Toa Inika cracked a small smile at the mental image of the Piraka fighting over climate. Across the bridge were two towers, each resting on a separate mound of earth in the lava. They were also connected by a bridge. On the first tower, an enormous mask of Dimensional Gates was mounted. The eyeless sockets looked down at him menacingly, and he was momentarily reminded of Brutaka, whom the Matoran had already told him about. They were kind enough to provide a picture of the dangerous Titan too. On top of the second tower a gigantic Zamor Sphere Launcher was mounted. And, well, he sure didn't want to get shot by that.

He watched as Thok slipped through the gate, not daring to give slipping in behind him before the gate closed a try. No doubt there were other Piraka in there, and, besides, if he got in, could he get out? So he missed his chance.

He was about to leave when he saw two other Piraka and a Titan round the corner, and his heart skipped a beat in panic. _They'll notice me! _He dodged behind a rock just in time.

&&&

Thok looked behind him as he entered. The Piraka thought he saw the Fire Toa. _Nah, my mind's playing tricks on me, _he concluded. The gate closed behind him, and he walked on confidently.

Halfway across the bridge, the gate opened and someone called out to him. "Thok? That you?" He turned and saw Reidak and Avak, neither looking too comfortable in the presence of the towering Titan, Brutaka. He growled in response and pushed open the door that led to the first tower.

Zaktan and Vezok greeted him. The Ice Piraka frowned. "So we're all here. Great. Where's Hakann?"

Vezok gave him a glare. "Who care's about that hotheaded idiot? I saw a flying Toa, I know it!"

Thok scowled at him. "Well I saw two Toa, a Matoran, and… something else."

Zaktan growled questioningly.

The Ice Piraka snapped in response. "I don't know! Just some other being!"

"Funny, I saw some weird being too." Brutak's voice came from behind Thok, and the Piraka spun around to see the Titan casually leaning against the doorway. Avak and Reidak both nodded grudgingly in agreement. The Titan straightened and continued. "I'll bet you they're from another dimension."

Avak frowned. "Dimension…?"

Brutaka grinned. "I'm sure you know by now that the Great Being created many worlds. Now, as you're probably also aware of, my mask lets me travel to pocket dimensions and the such. However, in all my travels, I've never seen a being such as the one we encountered today. I'm guessing that's because my mask only let's me travel to dimensions which are related to ours."

Zaktan snarled suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"

Brutaka shook his head. "How could you not understand? Since these, um, beings have traveled to our world, that makes their dimension and ours **related**. Thus-" He cut himself off, certain that Zaktan would catch on.

The Air Piraka did indeed, after a brief moment of pondering. "Thus, if they're related, your mask can open a portal to their dimension…?"

Brutaka's grin couldn't possibly have gotten any bigger. "Precisely."

**Author's Notes: **…Nope, this one's crummy too. Don't you guys just hate me? I give you something short, with a cliffhanger, and to top it all off, badly written. LOL

Ooh, I got a visorak for only $4 today. Yay. They're not even supposed ta be for sale anymore, but whatever. LOL

ANYHOW, I've been thinking of moving this story to the Bionicle section. Chances are it'll be ignored there too, but it wouldn't hurt to try, huh? And if you actually read this, then unless you feel like checking the Bionicle section every other day, I'd add this to story alerts if I were you. (hint hint, LOL).


	9. Chapter 8: Zamor

**Author's Notes: **LOL, seems you guys took the 'I'm-moving-this-fic' thing seriously. ;) that's cool. I shall move it the next time I upload, LOL. …Which will take a while. Heh.

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own Bionicle, nor W.I.T.C.H.

: Matoro arrived at the hideout first. Will was behind him, after Garan had convinced her that everything was perfectly okay and that the tall guy with a mean-looking sword wouldn't hurt her. Which was actually really hard to do, since she had no reason to trust the Matoran either. But they seemed to know who she was, and it was better than staying out there in the cold with nothing to do.

When they walked through the doorway, Kazi, who had been sitting around the table with the other Matoran, stood up. "Toa Matoro!" Then he frowned. "But where is Jaller? Wasn't he with you?"

Matoro gave him a shrug. He looked down at the Ko-Matoran, and said, quite frankly, "He ran off after Thok and I couldn't stop him."

Kazi's frown deepened. He raised an arm, an in turn his Sonic Pitchfork, and was about to say something when the door opened again and Nuparu stepped in, with a frightened Cornelia and a pondering Hewkii behind him.

The Guardian immediately perked up when she saw her friend. "Will! You're here too?"

The latter nodded and Cornelia shoved Nuparu aside and ran up to her. She immediately began blabbering about some psycho telepathic guy named Kongu and a load of other stuff Will didn't catch.

Hewkii walked into the room absently and sat down on a chair, staring at the floor and rubbing his chin, as if in serious thought. After a moment of silence, he looked up at Nuparu and said, "No, I still don't get the thing about the plants."

At this, Nuparu groaned and slapped his forehead, while everyone else present lifted an eyebrow, confused. "Long story," was the only explanation he gave them. Then, in an attempt to change the topic, he asked, "Where's Jaller?"

Matoro shifted but Kazi answered before he could. "Our good friend Jaller went off after Thok."

Nuparu stared at Matoro. "And you let him?"

Garan came to the Ice Toa's defense. "Well what was he supposed to do about it?"

Before the conversation could turn into a heated argument, Will timidly raised her hand, much like the way she would at school whenever she had a question.

"Yeah?" asked Matoro, eager to get Nuparu and Garan to stop arguing about Jaller.

"Um… you guys obviously know a lot about **us** – courtesy of some guy named Kongu – but who are **you**? I mean, I know your names, but what are you? Why are you here? Who was that guy who attacked me?"

"I figurethought that you would askquestions a lot, dimensionjumper."

There was no need to turn to know who had just arrived. Kongu was presently the only one on the entire island who spoke treespeak, not counting Lewa, who was missing in action. Hewkii grinned. "Hey, how come Nurapu can't control plantlife?"

The Toa of Earth grunted, walked forwards, and yanked Hewkii off his chair. He glared at the Toa of Stone. "Drop the plant thing."

Kongu chuckled, and turned back to Will. "Your friends quickcome soon, Guardian, with Toa-hero Hahli. But for now, I'll many questions answer.

"We are Toa-heroes, swornduty protect. Great Spirit Mata Nui put into deepsleep by evil Makuta, we come to find Ignika and wake him up. Creature attack you was bad-evil Piraka Thok. I see you are searching for Ignika as well. Great Beings give you this task, yes?"

"The Ignika…" With everything that had been happening, she had almost completely forgotten the reason they were there in the first place. And she guessed that the Oracle could be considered as a Great Being sort of thing… "Yes, that's right."

At that moment, the door opened for the fourth time. The other Guardians were there, along with another Toa. Hay Lin, Irma, and Taranee were obviously already well informed of the situation, if their confident expressions were anything to judge by.

Another thought flew through Will's mind and she found herself voicing it. "If you're here to retrieve the Ignika, do you know where it is?"

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room, and for a moment Will thought she had made a mistake.

"Axxon does," commented Balta, ever so quietly.

&&&

The Titan and former Guardian of the Mask of Life was hanging near the Piraka Stronghold, after he had seen Jaller. He walked up to the Toa and grabbed his shoulder, causing the Toa to whirl around. The tip of Jaller's sword nicked the Titan's armor, but he didn't really care. When Jaller realized who he was, he relaxed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"And I shouldn't have snuck up on you." Though, coming from Axxon, it sounded more like a simple fact than an apology of any kind. He held out his other fist, (his axe was lying at his feet) which strangely seemed to be glowing. Slowly, he uncurled his fingers and revealed the source of the unnatural brilliance. There, in his palm, rested a glowing Zamor Sphere.

Jaller was intrigued. He leaned closer for a better view. Yep, it was a Zamor all right. Right size, right shape. Except it contained some substance other than the protodermis-filled ones he and the other Toa used or the antidermis ones of the Piraka. And that substance glowed, obviously.

"I'm giving it to you."

"What?" Jaller immediately backed away. "Why?"

Axxon curled his fingers again, covering the Zamor. He kept a steady intimidating gaze upon the Toa of Fire. "Do you refuse?"

"Well, no," stammered Jaller, "just that I don't know why I should have it, that's all. Why are you giving it to me?"

Axxon placed the glowing orb in Jaller's hands. "The Mask of Life needs protecting," he said, before picking up his weapon, slinging it over his shoulder with astounding strength, and walking away.

&&&

Jaller returned to the Voya Nui Resistance base, in the icy region of the island. The sudden drop in temperature was harsh, and he shivered. He had wrapped the Zamor in a piece of cloth.

He opened the door and found Kongu beaming at him. "Firespitter Jaller back," he announced.

Nuparu nodded. "Good." Then his eyes fell upon the bundle in Jaller's arms. "What'' that you got there?"

The Toa of Fire frowned. "None of your business." He wasn't ready to tell the others yet, not until he figured out what exactly the Zamor was for. He caught Kongu's gaze. The Toa of Air raised an eyebrow but made no comment.

Garan spoke. "We were just talking about the Ignika, and-"

"I think the Toa Nuva are in the Piraka Stronghold."

Nuparu nodded. "Yeah, we figured. But… you don't really think we can break into there, do you?"

Jaller shrugged. "We can try. Besides, wasn't that what we came here to do? Free the Toa Nuva?"

**Author's Notes: **Yeah, it was a crappy filler chappie. XD Sry, stuck on just about everything. I think I'll write a songfic/oneshot or two. you know, take a break from these things. :P


	10. Chapter 9: InterDimensional

**Author's Notes: **Sudden burst of inspiration yesterday afternoon, and before you know it, this came out. Yay.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Bionicle. Or W.I.T.C.H. **Yet**. (insert insane grin)

They stepped out of the portal into the Hall of the Congregation. Jaller had told them to come back in exactly nine days, which was all it would take for them to prepare for the assault on the Piraka Stronghold. Though just exactly how long that was in Earth terms, in their dimension where time ran at a different pace, they had no idea, but surely the Oracle knew.

"Back so soon?"

Will nodded. "You know what happened, you were watching."

The Oracle smiled slightly. "Indeed I was. You have a question on your mind, don't you? Ask."

"Well, you know, the Inika obviously need the mask-type thing. Why do you want it?"

Himerish nodded. "A perfectly reasonable question, Guardian. It is clear you do not yet fully understand the power of the Ignika. It's not safe on Voya Nui. It's not safe with anyone besides the chosen one. He alone may touch it. And it is your duty to ensure that no one else may lay hands on it until he is ready, by bringing it **here**."

"Okay…" began Irma. "But **who**'s this 'chosen one'?"

His smile reappeared. "You'll know when the time comes," he said, his eyes twinkling.

Irma groaned. "That seems to be your favorite phrase of all time."

Will cut in. "We're supposed to meet them in nine days. How much time does that give us at home?"

"Just about a month," answered the Oracle.

Irma whooped. "A whole month? Great!"

Himerish nodded in agreement, though measurements of time meant little to the immortal being of the ethereal realm of Kandrakar.

&&&

Zaktan nodded. "You're getting all excited because you've found some other world to mess around with?"

Brutaka sighed. "Well, let's see what you've found," he challenged.

The Air Piraka snarled but fell silent.

The Titan smirked. Clasping his hands together, he asked with false cheer, "Who wants to experiment?"

Thok frowned. "What?"

"There's no way **I'm** trying to jump into that dimension. Who knows what might happen. So I'm looking for a volunteer." Brutaka had an unnaturally large grin on his Olmak as he said this.

The Piraka all backed away uncertainly. And then exchanged shifty glances.

"I vote Zaktan," said Thok.

"Avak would be a better choice," protested Zaktan.

Avak looked appalled. "Me? Why no, Vezok would do a much better job."

The blue Piraka in question growled. "What? No! Um… Reidak!" he exclaimed, gesturing towards the Earth Piraka with his dual weapon.

The Earth Piraka started to protest, but Brutaka cut him off.

"Great! Thank you so very much for volunteering, Reidak!"

"What? But-but I never… " stammered Reidak.

Brutaka put an amicable arm around the Piraka and smiled warmly. "Just think about it, Reidak! You'll be able to see something no one else has seen before! Doesn't that thought excite you?"

"Not really…" muttered Reidak under his breath.

The door burst open and a panting Hakann barged into the room. "Argh!"

Brutaka raised an eyebrow, but then his smile grew bigger. "Don't worry Reidak, Hakann will accompany you."

Hakann stopped his growling. Perplexed, he asked, "What?"

Brutaka left Reidak to shake hands with the confused Fire Piraka. "Congratulations, Hakann! You've been chosen for a most interesting expedition!"

Hakann watched his arm carefully as Brutaka shook it up and down. "Uh-hun…" He squinted suspiciously. "What's the catch?" he asked warily.

"None at all, my friend!" exclaimed the Titan, patting the smaller Piraka on the back.

"O-kay… where are we going?"

Brutaka laughed. "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe… and if something does happen, and you're wiped out of existence, you'll be remembered for your sacrifice. Now, get over here and stand with Reidak." He used his powerful arms to usher the dazed Piraka to Reidak's side. Turning to the others, he said, "You'd better stand back."

The other Piraka moved to the corner of the room.

"Think we'll ever see them again?" Zaktan asked casually.

"Nope," replied Thok.

Avak sniggered.

Hakann frowned. "You still haven't answered my question! Where are we going?"

The Titan stopped smiling. "Get Reidak to explain it to you." His mask began to glow.

"Hey-" Hakann wanted to protest, but a blast of energy came from the glowing Olmak and hit both him and Reidak.

"-where are we… going?" He suddenly found himself in and enclosed space between two walls. Reidak was nowhere in sight. Little did he know, he was in an alleyway in Heatherfield in the dead of the night. A small creature jumped out from a cardboard box. It approached him carefully. As it got closer, Hakann saw it was completely black, with green eyes. It stood on four paws, and had a tail. It made a mewing noise similar to a baby Muaka.

A slow smile crept to his face. He raised his Lava Launcher. The burst of molten lava missed. The creature hissed, and darted away quickly, out of the alley and into the street. Disappointed because he missed, but also slightly curious, he poked his head out of the alley. It was dark, but there were things that looked like lightstones on metal poles. He approached one of them carefully. They looked too fragile to be lightstones, and their light was far more intense than any lightstone he ever saw.

There was a path with funny looking yellow and white lines on it. He cocked his head. _Wonder what that's for… _His question was answered as a red hunk of metal on wheels suddenly sped past him. Startled, he utilized his heat vision, and left a scorch mark on the road where the speeding car had been a split second before. _What was **that**?_

He looked up to gaze at the buildings. They were several stories high, and were rectangular-shaped. He saw a form on the building move. It flapped its wings twice and took flight before Hakann realized it was some sort of bird. Rahi. A target. Grinning with glee and delighted to find that wherever Brutaka had teleported him to contained some form of amusement, he raised his Lava Launcher again.

But gravity pulled down on his ammunition before it came anywhere near the bird, and it melted through a third-floor window instead.

Not to sure what he had done, but knowing it was bad made Hakann happy. He shot some more windows, until he inevitably ran out of ammunition. At the moment, he began cursing loudly, then finally remembered Reidak. He flipped over his weapon, and walked on down the street.

&&&

Taranee slapped her palm down on the button on the alarm clock. The red digits displayed six forty-five. Rubbing her eyes, she took her glasses out of their case and rested them on top her nose. _…Wait a minute, it's Saturday! Why in the world did I set my alarm yesterday? _She smiled slightly at her absentminded mistake.

Stretching her arms, she plopped out of bed and stuck her feet into her warm cozy slippers. She stood up and walked over to her wardrobe as she picked out her outfit for the day.

Minutes later, she descended the stairs to the kitchen. No one else was awake yet. In the mood for something simple, she inserted some bread into the toaster. As she pushed down on the lever-type mechanism, her thoughts strayed to the events of the previous night.

While she fetched the jam, she spotted the TV remote someone had carelessly left on the kitchen counter. She grabbed it, walked to the family room where their television was located, and turned it on. She slowly moved back to fetch her toast.

Seconds later, she was running back to the television.

"…the windows were suspiciously melted somewhere around four in the morning, just three hours ago. The authorities were alerted when the smoke alarm went off and and anonymous caller dialed for the firefighters. No one saw the culprit, and police cannot name a suspect nor even find a possible motive for this act of vandalism to the apartment building. They have questioned all the residents, but none could provide and answer."

Taranee took a bite out of her breakfast. Crime wasn't unheard of in Heatherfield, but this was just queer.

"Anything interesting on the tube, sis?"

Taranee whirled around to see her brother leaning casually against the wall, looking tired. "Oh, Peter. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I have to go over to Joel's anyways," he reassured her. Then he saw the image of the damaged apartment complex over her shoulder. "Whoa. What on Earth happened?"

"I don't know. They just said the windows melted…"

"Hmm." Peter squinted at the address on the screen. "Hey, I might be mistaken, but having driven you there numerous times, isn't that just one block away from the Silver Dragon?"

Taranee turned. "Oh my gosh, you're right! Say, Peter, you wouldn't mind dropping me off on your way to Joel's, would you?"

&&&

Reidak had landed not too far from Heatherfield, in Fadden Hills. Or at least that's what the large sign said.

There was an area of Fadden Hills where unemployed people with special talents could come and entertain the crowd for cash. Amongst the various dressed-up magicians, acrobats, and actors, Reidak's biomechanical appearance didn't strike anyone as out of the ordinary. So he sat on the edge of the fountain.

Passersby muttered comments such as about his 'costume', and someone tossed a nickel at Reidak's clawed feet. He eyed it curiously, and after observing the way people handled the round bits of metal, concluded that they were sort of like Widgets. Though the reason why they came in a variety of shapes and sizes, not to mention were made from different material, escaped him. Nevertheless, he felt kind of proud with himself for figuring out their currency.

He couldn't help noticing how unbelievably **weak** they all looked. Their unarmored bodies were vulnerable to the slightest attempt to harm them. He saw a kid get a pretty deep paper cut and watched as the blood, a bright red, began flowing out of the thumb.

He bet he could take them on, but being in a new, different environment, he didn't feel like taking chances. Sure, back on Voya Nui he was always ready to fight without a plan, but back then he always sort of knew what he was in for. And causing a riot wasn't really going to solve anything. And he couldn't enslave them either, not having brought any Zamors with him.

And then someone tapped his shoulder. His head turned. _Whoa, that guy's tall. _Even standing up, Reidak would only have reached his chin. The man was completely bald, and well-built. He was dressed in mostly black leather and had numerous peircings on his face. He lifted one leg and propped it up on the edge of the fountain. Resting his elbow on his thigh, he declared, "This is my spot."

Reidak growled. "Make me leave."

The dark green eyes narrowed and observed Reidak thoroughly for a moment. "You look new here."

"Yeah…" Reidak frowned.

"Do you know who I am?"

Whoops. Dangerous question, this one. Reidak was used to being in this situation, being a former Dark Hunter. Problem was, even after all this time, he was never able to find a safe answer to it.

Better to stay honest if you can't find an adequate lie. "Uh… no?"

The man set his foot on the ground. Cracking his knuckles, he asked in a mocking voice, "Oh, yeah? Well, then today's the day when I teach you who I am, and make sure you never forget it."

_And now he's going to pound me. _Sure enough, right after that thought crossed Reidak's mind, the fist came at his face. Reidak jumped back, effectively dodging it.

By then, people had noticed the brewing fight, and there was no one within a five meter radius of the two.

The man growled at Reidak. "Oh, so you've got some moves, huh? You just come and sit at my usual place with that weird costume of yours. You are **so** asking for it, dude."

Reidak flipped his weapon, and scratched the tip of the buzzsaw across the surface of the fountain. Seeing the ugly gash it left, people came to the conclusion that he wasn't joking, and that the dual weapon was in no way a simple accessory to his 'costume'.

The man hesitated. "Hey, no fair, you're armed…"

It was Reidak's turn to sneer menacingly. "Do **you** know who **I** am?"

&&&

"Thanks Peter! Oh, I'll take the bus home, don't worry!"

Taranee said goodbye to her brother as he drove off. When his car was out of sight, she opened the door to the Silver Dragon.

Normally crowded, the restaurant was deserted. Everything was in place, except the missing customers.

"Taranee! What are you doing here?" asked Hay Lin, bouncing across the room to meet her.

The Fire Guardian smiled and took off her coat. Hanging it up, she said, "Well, to be frank, I saw the news report about the window thing…"

The Chinese girl gave a long melodramatic sigh. "Yeah. That's why no one's here. I mean, how do you eat when the media's right outside the window of the restaurant?"

"Oh. Well any idea what happened to the windows?"

Hay Lin shrugged. "I don't know. I was asleep when it happened," she said, sitting down at one of the tables of the restaurant.

Taranee sat down opposite her. "I was thinking it looked a lot like the work of that…"

"Hakann? It looked like him to me too."

Taranee bit her lip. "But that's **impossible**. How could Hakann get **here**? And **why**?"

&&&

Unable to concentrate on her algebra, Will doodled on the margins of the page. That is, until she remembered that the sheet of paper she was doodling on was one of the few her teacher was going to pick up and mark personally. _Oops. _She sighed, and got busy erasing. _Good thing I wasn't using a pen. _

When the doodles were taken care of, she tried to read the instructions again. Now not only was the writing tiny, but it purposely used really big words she was sure her math teacher never mentioned before, as if forcing her to crack open a dictionary.

She stood up to go sharpen her pencil. Her hand casually flicked on the radio. Her mom paid extra to get a Fadden Hills radio station, just because she liked to keep up to date. Will never listened to it, and was just about to switch stations when a certain word caught her attention.

"…biomechanical was the word used to describe the unknown person who earlier today handicapped the leader of the much-feared street gang, Dark Destiny. He was said to have injured many other members of the gang who tried to intervene, and left only after police arrived at the scene. And now for the weather."

The reportage on the mystery biomechanical being over, she turned off the radio. Her algebra homework was already forgotten. She ran over to the phone. "Call Irma, **now**."

While the phone dialed, she pondered the possibilities. Just because eyewitnesses called him biomechanical didn't necessarily mean… but still, she had this feeling. _Could it have been one of the Inika? No, they wouldn't cause so much trouble… So- _

"Hello? Will?"

Her phone was on speaker-mode. "Hey Irma. You know a place where we can all meet? I just heard something rather important I'd like to discuss…"

**Author's Notes: **Um……………………. yea. Review please. :D


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